Former president Donald Trump and his campaign staff knowingly used false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election to raise about $250 million from supporters, a House of Representatives panel investigating the deadly January 6, 2021, insurrection said on Monday.
The staff knew the claims were unfounded and the money raised for Mr Trump's "Official Election Defence Fund”, which did not exist, was used for other purposes, the committee said.
“We found evidence that the Trump campaign and its surrogates misled donors as to where their funds would go and what they would be used for,” Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren said.
“So not only was there the Big Lie, there was the big rip-off.”
The committee played video testimony from Amanda Wick, a senior investigative counsel, outlining how Mr Trump and his allies raised the $250m with as many as 25 email solicitations a day to supporters seeking money to fight election fraud.
That included almost $100m in the first week after the election.
Ms Lofgren said the Trump campaign used "false claims of election fraud to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from supporters who were told their donations were for the legal fight in the courts.
"But the Trump campaign didn't use the money for that."
Some of the money went to fund the "Stop the Steal" rally, which led to the deadly insurrection, the panel said.
In a lengthy response on Monday evening, Mr Trump repeated many of the same false claims that the panel had just debunked, called the investigation a one-sided "sham" and repeated his assertion that the 2020 election was "rigged and stolen".
The panel also described how Mr Trump began laying the groundwork to contest the election long before anyone had voted. He raised the idea of electoral wrongdoing in a debate with rival Joe Biden.
"As early as April 2020, Mr Trump claimed that the only way he could lose an election would be as a result of fraud," Ms Lofgren said.
Mr Trump told supporters at an August 2020 rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin: "The only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged."
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On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington. AFP -
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have already spoken to January 6 investigators. Whether they will appear in primetime is yet to be determined. Reuters -
Rudy Giuliani, lawyer for former president Donald Trump, gives a press conference in the car park of the Four Seasons landscaping company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after Joe Biden was declared as winner of the 2020 presidential election, which he claimed was false. As a result of these claims, Mr Giuliani can no longer practice law in the state of New York. EPA -
Donald Trump meets Clint Hickman, vice chairman of Arizona's 4th District, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, at Phoenix Sky Harbour International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, Mr Hickman said that he refused to take calls from the White House and Mr Trump, who he said was trying to overturn the battleground state's results. AP -
Four days before the Capitol riot, Donald Trump placed a call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and asked the official to 'find' 11,780 votes to prevent the certification of Joe Biden's victory in the battleground state. The House committee investigators have already interviewed election officials in the state. AP -
Ruby Freeman was an employee of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections in Atlanta, Georgia, during the 2020 presidential election. After the state went to Joe Biden, Donald Trump accused Ms Freeman of stealing ballots in a call with Brad Raffensperger, who told Mr Trump that he was being misled by claims on social media. Reuters -
Kimberly Guilfoyle, engaged to Donald Trump's son, boasted to a Republican operative that she had raised $3 million for the rally that helped fuel the January 6 Capitol riot. She may be called to testify. AFP -
Kash Patel, chief of staff to former acting secretary of defence Christopher Miller, gave a deposition on Capitol Hill to the committee on December 9, 2021. Members of the committee and staff members had been meeting with Mr Patel and 'Stop the Steal' organiser Ali Alexander. Getty Images / AFP -
The Willard Hotel in Washington played home to a 'war room' set up by advisers of Donald Trump and has become the focus of the congressional investigation into the January 6 attack. AFP -
Former White House chief strategist in the Trump administration Steven Bannon leaves a federal courthouse in Washington after being indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress. EPA -
Roger Stone, a former adviser and confidant of Donald Trump, gave a deposition before the committee in which he repeatedly pled the Fifth Amendment when questioned. Getty Images / AFP -
Bennie Thompson was chosen by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to lead the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol. Getty Images / AFP -
Bennie Thompson meets Liz Cheney, vice-chair of the select committee, Adam Kinzinger and Jamie Raskin on Capitol Hill. The committee voted unanimously to recommend contempt of Congress charges for former Department of Justice official Jeffrey Clark for defying his subpoena, refusing to answer questions and failing to hand over documents to the committee. Getty Images / AFP -
Liz Cheney, committee chairman Bennie Thompson and other members of the committee speak to reporters after meeting with Nancy Pelosi. Reuters -
Republican Scott Perry of Pennsylvania helped promote theories that the 2020 presidential election was stolen, resulting in millions of tax dollars spent on recounts in the state. Election workers there were also threatened with violence. Reuters -
Lawyer John Eastman spoke with Donald Trump's personal legal representative Rudy Giuliani at the January 6 'Stop the Steal' rally in Washington. During the melee, Mr Eastman emailed Greg Jacobs, aid to vice president at the time Mike Pence, to say that it was Mr Pence's fault that the riot was taking place because he refused to block the election's certification results. Reuters -
Before Mike Pence could certify the Electoral College votes before Congress, the last step in the process before Joe Biden was to be sworn in, rioters breached the US Capitol. Outside the chamber doors, a person was shot and police officers were beaten and trampled as some rioters yelled: 'Hang Mike Pence!' EPA -
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said he has no intention of complying with a subpoena to appear before the committee and missed a scheduled deposition. Committee members voted unanimously to pursue criminal contempt charges against Mr Meadows for refusing to give evidence. AFP -
In a legal setback, a federal appeals court ruled against Donald Trump, demanding he turn over White House records to the committee. AP -
Fox News host Sean Hannity sent text messages to the White House during the January 6 insurrection. AP -
The Oath Keepers is a US militia group that recruits former members of the military and law enforcement, with many participating in the January 6 attack. The committee has sent a subpoena to its founder, Stewart Rhoades, and several members have been arrested. AP -
The select committee subpoenaed Enrique Tarrio, naming him as leader of the Proud Boys, an extremist group that responded to Donald Trump’s call to descend on Washington and which played a central role in the attack on the Capitol. EPA -
US Olympic swimmer Klete Keller can be seen, with arms extended and wearing a blue kerchief covering his face, during the attack on the US Capitol. He pled guilty to one count of obstructing an official proceeding and is co-operating with the committee. AFP -
House select committee member Liz Cheney told CNN that a witness said Donald Trump's daughter and former White House adviser, Ivanka Trump, pleaded with her father to put a stop to the violence that took place on January 6. Getty Images / AFP -
On January 9, 2021, Twitter banned Donald Trump after he tweeted his support for the rioters. Reuters -
'Stop the Steal' organiser Ali Alexander gave a deposition on Capitol Hill to the committee. Getty Images / AFP -
Stephanie Grisham, former White House Press Secretary under former US president Donald Trump, leaves the O'Neill House office building following a meeting with the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th attack on the US Capitol. Reuters -
John Eastman, a lawyer for former president Donald Trump, possibly broke legal and ethical rules relating to the 2020 election. AP -
Jim Jordan, a Republican congressman, admitted to speaking with Donald Trump on January 6 but refuses to speak with the committee. Reuters
Despite senior staff, his vice president Mike Pence and many of his legal advisers — including his own attorney general William Barr — advising Mr Trump that there was no election fraud, he ignored their advice and intensified his false claims, the panel said.
After the election, some in Mr Trump's orbit began working around the clock to peddle conspiracy theories of faulty voting machines and illegal voting activities in battleground states such as Georgia, Pennsylvania, Arizona and Nevada — all states won by Mr Biden.
They would need cash to legally challenge election outcomes, so they launched the fundraising campaign through intensive emailing that began on election night, the committee said.
The election challenges ceased on December 14 but the fundraising continued, with some supporters receiving 25 emails a day.
"The emails claimed the 'left-wing mob' was undermining the election, implored supporters to 'step up to protect the integrity of the election', and encouraged them to 'fight back'," Ms Wick said.
"But as the select committee has demonstrated, the Trump campaign knew these claims of voter fraud were false."
Donors were encouraged to give to the Official Election Defence Fund, which the committee said never existed.
"On November 9 2020, President Trump created a separate entity called the Save America Pac [Political Action Committee]," Ms Wick said.
"Most of the money raised went to this newly created Pac not to election related litigation."
During their inquiry, the committee found that the Save America Pac made millions of dollars of contributions to pro-Trump organisations.
These included: $1m to the foundation of Mr Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows; $1m to the America First Policy Institute, a conservative organisation that employs former Trump administration officials; $250,000 to the Trump Hotel collection; and more than $5m to Event Strategies, the company that ran Mr Trump's January 6 rally outside the White House.
"All of us here today do not want to see our election victory stolen by emboldened radical-left Democrats, which is what they're doing," Mr Trump told supporters at the January 6 Stop the Steal rally.
Evidence gained by the select committee highlights how the Trump campaign aggressively pushed false election claims to raise funds, telling supporters that they would be used to fight voter fraud that did not exist.
Thirty minutes after the last fundraising email was sent, the Capitol was breached.
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Donald Trump, the president at the time, speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as president in Washington on January 6, 2021. AP -
A mob loyal to Mr Trump tries to break through a police barrier at the Capitol. AP -
The mob waves pro-Trump flags in front of the Capitol building. AP -
Riot police push back a crowd of rioters at the Capitol building. AFP -
Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as people try to storm the US Capitol building. AFP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump try to open a door of the US Capitol building as they riot in Washington. AP -
US Capitol Police push back rioters trying to enter the US Capitol. AP -
Police and rioters confront each other in the Rotunda of the Capitol. US Capitol Police via AP -
Smoke fills the hallway outside the Senate chamber of the Capitol. AP -
Insurrectionists loyal to Mr Trump breach the Capitol in Washington. AP -
Trump supporters, including Doug Jensen, centre, confront US Capitol Police in the hallway outside the Senate chamber at the Capitol. AP -
Newly installed razor wire tops the fence surrounding the US Capitol following the January 6 riot. Reuters -
Security agents and members of Congress barricade the door to the House chamber as the violent mob breaches the Capitol. AP -
Rioter Jacob Chansley holds a sign referencing QAnon as supporters of Mr Trump gather to protest the early results of the 2020 presidential election. Reuters
