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- Donations made to President Donald Trump’s “official election defense fund” would also be used to pay off the campaign’s debt, according to the fine print on the donation pages.
- Insider called the race for President-elect Joe Biden Friday morning, while Trump and Republican officials pursued court battles and called on supporters to not let the Democrats “steal” the election.
- Trump’s website linked to a donation paged for an “Official Election Defense Fund,” while the fine print lower on the page said 60% of the donation would go towards “the retirement of general election debt.”
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Donations made to President Donald Trump’s “official election defense fund” would also be used to pay off the campaign’s debt, according to the fine print on the donation pages.
Insider and Decision Desk HQ called the race for President-elect Joe Biden Friday morning, after projecting a Pennsylvania win for Biden, amidst a flurry of lawsuits that the Trump campaign and Republican officials brought this week in key battleground states. Trump and his allies have called on his supporters to donate to the president’s legal fund to challenge the results of the election.
A donation page that the Trump website links to encourages a donation to the “Official Election Defense Fund.” The page reads: “President Trump needs YOU to step up to make sure we have the resources to protect the integrity of the Election!”
However, in the fine print lower on the page, it says 60% will go towards “the retirement of general election debt,” and the remaining 40% will go towards the Republican National Committee’s operating account. It is customary for national party committees, like the RNC, to be involved in election-related legal battles, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Other donation pages, including one for an “EMERGENCY Wisconsin Recount Fund,” say in the fine print that 50% of the donation will go towards paying off campaign debt, with the other half going towards the campaign’s recount account.
It is not clear how much debt the Trump campaign holds.
Lawsuits and motions to intervene with the processing of ballots have been filed in a number of states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, and Nevada. Meanwhile, the president has asserted baseless claims of voter fraud, urging his supporters to not let the Democrats "steal" the election.
Biden's website also urges donations for legal challenges, saying "the President has threatened to go to court to prevent the proper tabulation of votes," and links to a page for the "Biden Fight Fund." The fine print on this page says the donations will go towards the Democratic National Committee and the campaign's recount account.