A campaign finance report filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday night shows that former President Trump’s political action committee donated $1 million to the conservative nonprofit group where his former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, is a senior partner.
For his failure to help with an investigation into Trump’s January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, Meadows was found to be in contempt of Congress by a House vote in December.
According to the campaign finance report, Trump’s “Save America” PAC donated $1.35 million to political allies in the last six months of 2021, with the greatest portion going to the Conservative Partnership Institute, a tax-deductible seven-figure donation.
His political action committee contributed money to 69 candidates for federal and state seats, many of whom have endorsed Trump’s deception about being duped in the 2020 presidential election. He was defeated by President Joe Biden by a margin of 306 to 232 electoral votes, and by a margin of more than 7 million raw votes.
The donation to Meadows’ non-profit organization is notable both for its amount and the time of its receipt. The House of Representatives decided on July 1 to establish a select committee to investigate the attack on the Capitol. On July 26, Trump’s political action committee made a donation to the Conservative Partnership Institute, which describes itself as a training facility for conservative employees and elected officials.
Wesley Denton, chief operating officer of the Conservative Political Action Institute, said in a statement provided to NBC News that “CPI is proud to have the support of President Trump, as well as tens of thousands of Americans across the nation, for our work to build and unite the conservative movement.”
An inquiry about the donation to Meadows’ employer was sent to Tim Mulvey, a spokesperson for the Jan. 6 committee, who did not immediately respond to a text message seeking comment.
According to Trump spokeswoman Taylor Budowich, “Save America” is one of the former president’s various political fundraising vehicles, which raised a total of $51 million in the second half of 2021, according to the former president’s spokesman Taylor Budowich. According to the company’s declaration on Monday, it employs approximately two dozen individuals and spends the majority of its money on Facebook advertising.
One of the PAC’s larger contributions to a candidate came in the form of a $10,000 payment to Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has assisted Trump in negotiating the state’s GOP primary politics. Donations were made in $5,000 increments for the most part, and they were distributed to the vast majority of the politicians Trump has backed.
Candidates running for statewide posts, such as secretary of state and attorney general, who have power over election administration are among those who have received “Save America” cheques, which have been distributed to them. To cite an example, Trump donated $5,000 to Arizona state Rep. Mark Finchem, who is running for secretary of state and has called for the decertification of the 2020 election, and a matching amount to Rep. Jody Hice, R-Ga., who opposed the election’s certification and is now running for secretary of state in Georgia.
2020 elections were determined by the narrowest of margins in Arizona and Georgia.
As part of the PAC’s contributions to Senate candidates, the group made a contribution to Republican Herschel Walker, a former University of Georgia and professional football standout who played for Trump’s former USFL team the New Jersey Generals during its final season. The president also donated to Harriet Hageman, who is running in the Republican primary against Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on the House side. For his role in the Jan. 6 attack, Cheney voted to impeach Trump, and he is one of two Republicans who serve as members of Congress’s House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
