Guilfoyle’s payment was revealed Monday by Democrat MP Zoe Lofgren of California, who told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the House of Representatives election commission investigating the Jan. 6 uprising in the U.S. Capitol has evidence that family members of former President Donald Trump has personally benefited from money raised on the basis of false election allegations by Trump.
Lofgren spoke after the commission’s hearing on Monday highlighted $ 250 million raised by the PAC and Trump bailout campaign. But those entities did not pay the Guilfoyle fee, people familiar with the payment told CNN. The payment came from Turning Point Action, a subsidiary of Turning Point USA, a youth organization founded by Charlie Kirk, a close friend of Trump Jr.
On Tuesday, Lofgren defended her previous comments on Guilfoyle’s fee during an interview with Wolf Blitzer, saying she did not think she had misdiagnosed the payment because it came from part of the Trump-related network.
“The question is whether Trump’s people are profiting from this whole fundraising venture around the so-called cessation of theft,” Lofgren told Blitzer. – And the answer is yes.
Neither Guilfoyle nor her lawyer responded to requests for comment. Turning Point declined to comment.
During Monday’s hearing, the commission showed a video presentation by a senior investigator outlining how Trump used false allegations of election fraud to raise $ 250 million from donors. The investigator said fundraising emails indicated that the money would go to an election defense fund, but the investigator said most of the money went to Save America, the pro-Trump PAC.
Lofgren appeared on CNN shortly after the show and revealed Guilfoyle’s payment as an example of “fraud.” Tapper asked if the commission had found “evidence that Trump and his family” personally benefited “from donations.”
“For example, we know that Gilfoil was paid for the presentation he gave during the speech on January 6. She was compensated for that, “Lofgren said. “I’m not saying it’s a crime, but I’m saying it’s a scam.
President Benny Thompson was asked by CNN late Monday to clarify whether Guilfoil had been paid with Stop the Theft.
“I didn’t say that,” Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, told CNN, adding: “It was strictly paid for by people who came to the Stop Theft rally.
Thompson noted that payment was still something the public, including Trump supporters, was unaware of during the speech.
“First, we think most of the public will be worried that if Donald Trump’s girlfriend (Jr.) makes $ 60,000 in a few minutes of speech, they have no idea. She had to get paid to talk about something, everyone else came to their senses because they thought it was the right thing to do, “he said.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to correct the name of the organization that paid Guilfoyle for its speech on January 6, 2021.
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