Major Trump donors who soured on him after 2020 and Jan. 6 now insist he's their best choice

ABC News1/2Nov. 27, 2023

Donald Trump and his allies are ramping up high-dollar fundraising efforts with less than two months to go until the Iowa caucus begins the 2024 Republican primary, as several major donors show signs of returning to the former president – including those who once called on him to exit the race.

Some observers say the changing view of big financial backers shows a recognition that because Republican voters are sticking with Trump amid his continued controversy and legal troubles, he remains a very real contender for the White House. Trump is battling a slew of unprecedented criminal charges all of which he denies but remains the front-runner in polling.

At the same time, anti-Trump Republican donors have spent millions while scrambling to coalesce behind an alternative candidate to take on the former president and anti-Trump voters remain divided between a handful of challengers.

Charlie Kolean, a GOP strategist who raises money for the Trump campaign, said that "while Trump may have not been some Republicans' first choice for 2024, many are coming back on board because the risk of Joe Biden being a two-term president is just too high." "His lead in the polls is unparalleled and barring any legal action, there is nothing politically that could stop him from becoming the nominee," Kolean said.

Later this week, the former president and his campaign are hosting a fundraiser at the Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida, with ticket prices ranging from $11,600 per person for general attendance to $23,200 for attendance and a photo opportunity.

The following week, real estate executives Steven Witkoff and Howard Lorber are co-hosting a fundraiser for the former president in Hallandale Beach, Florida, for a $23,200-per-person ticket that includes a photo opportunity.

Both Witkoff and Lorber are longtime friends of Trump, and Witkoff testified as the first witness for Trump's defense team in a New York civil trial in which Trump is accused of inflating the values of his properties. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

But other Republican donors who hadshown reservationsabout Trump after the 2020 election orhad been sitting on the sidelines are now gradually coming out in support of him, too.

Over the last couple of years, a number of the GOP's big backers from financiers like Ken Griffin, Thomas Peterffy and Stephen Schwarzman to cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder and oil and gas mogul Harold Hamm turned their backs on Trump or expressed reservations about him.

Some cited the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and some blamed Trump for Republican disappointments during the 2022 midterms. Others said the party needed a new generation of leaders.

Several bundlers and fundraisers that raised money for Trump had also moved on to raise money for his 2024 rivals.

Home Depot co-founderBernie Marcuswas among the major donors that had declined to weigh in on the 2024 presidential election before he announced asurprise endorsementof Trump in an op-ed published on the website Real Clear Politics in early November, sayingthe "stakes are just too high" and the "choice is simple."….

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/major-trump-donors-soured-after-2020-jan-6/story?id=104951161

>>19987446

2/2

"I understand the frustration of some of my Republican friends who do not like or are offended by things Donald Trump does and says," Marcus wrote. "I, too, have been frustrated at times, but we cannot let his brash style be the reason we walk away from =his otherwise excellent stewardship of the United States during his first term in office==."

"I endorse him not only because he has the best chance of winning the general election but because he is the best person to take on and dismantle the administrative state that is strangling America," Marcus argued.

A top GOP donor, Marcus has been one of Trump's most loyal political benefactors over the years, giving millions of dollars to his campaign and various other fundraising vehicles supporting him. In March, however, Marcus donated $16,000 to South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley's federal joint fundraising committee soon after she announced her presidential bid.

Hamm, the energy magnate, followed a similar pattern. He was one of Trump's biggest donors during Trump's first presidential bid and throughout Trump's presidency but called for Trump to drop out of the race earlier this summer.

Hamm also told the Financial Times earlier this summer that "Jan. 6 separated a lot of people" in the GOP and that the party needed a chaos-free candidate in 2024.Hamm told the Financial Times that Trump should become a Republican "kingmaker" instead of running for the presidency again.

Hamm donated $16,000 to Haley's joint fundraising committee after she announced her presidential bid and gave $6,600 to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign after he announced.Later, in August, Hamm gave $3,300 to the Trump campaign. Last month, Hamm had a private meeting with the former president at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, with a $200,000 check for a pro-Trump super PAC, according to The Washington Post.

Dan Eberhart, a GOP donor who supports and raises money for DeSantis but had previously supported Trump, wasn't surprised.

"He's saying the quiet part out loud," Eberhart said, describing his own thoughts on Hamm's moves."Even for the people that don't really prefer Trump, it's about time to come home, rally around Trump, and he recognizes that."(Multiple efforts to reach Hamm for comment were unsuccessful.)

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/major-trump-donors-soured-after-2020-jan-6/story?id=104951161

Nov 24, 2023

Never Back Down super PAC head resigns, says its 'untenable' for him to deliver on getting DeSantis elected

On Wednesday, the head of Ron DeSantis' largest super PAC resigned, marking the latest in a string of potential setbacks to the Florida governor's presidential campaign.

While Never Back Down's Chris Jankowskie admitted that he believed it was "untenable" to deliver on the super PAC's promise of getting DeSantis elected, he nonetheless maintained that there was nobody else he would rather see get elected in 2024.

"Never Back Down's main goal and sole focus has been to elect Gov. Ron DeSantis as president," Jankowski said in a statement. "Given the current environment it has become untenable for me to deliver on the shared goal and that goes well beyond a difference of strategic opinion."

He emphasized, however, that despite his decision, "for the future of our country I support and pray Ron DeSantis is our 47th president."

As NBC reports, the staffing shakeup came on the heels of a disagreement between Never Back Down's chief strategist, Jeff Roe, and board member Scott Wagner regarding what to do about Nikki Haley, DeSantis' closest rival in the polls.

Following the squabble, three of the governor's allies formed a second super PAC, Fight Right Inc, which has been billed as an attempt to distance him from Never Back Down,whose Haley attack ads backfired and hurt him instead.

According to the New York Times, however, the new super PAC has been described as a subsidiary of the other, with officials suggesting that the only money that would end up in the hands of Fight Right would be transferred over from Never Back Down.

"We are excited to see even more backers stepping up to support Ron DeSantis’ candidacy," campaign Communications Director Andrew Romeo said. "We've already seen tremendous value in the support of groups like Never Back Down, and adding new allies to the mix to independently help spread the governor's message will only strengthen our advantage in the important weeks and months ahead."

In recent months, DeSantis' world has been rocked by a series of high-profile staffing changes. In August, for example, his campaign manager was replaced with his gubernatorial office’s chief of staff after the former became the subject of criticism on his presidential campaign from DeSantis advisors and donors in mid-July after the campaign stalled and money coming in slowed.

(Maybe it was the high heels that bothered him.)

https://thepostmillennial.com/never-back-down-super-pac-head-resigns-says-its-untenable-for-him-to-deliver-on-getting-desantis-elected

Trump Lawyers File Motion for Discovery in Jack Smith Case Demanding Documents Regarding Informants and Undercover Agents Related to Jan 6

by Cristina Laila Nov. 27, 2023

Trump’s attorneys filed a motion for discovery in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s case demanding documents regarding informants and undercover agents related to January 6.

“Please provide all documents regarding informants, cooperators, undercover agents, representatives, or anyone acting in a similar capacity on behalf of or at the behest of the Department of Justice or any law enforcement agency…who was present at or within five miles of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the 9-page discovery letter.

Trump’s trial date for Jack Smith’s January 6 case is currently scheduled for March 4, 2024 (election interference).

Julie@julie_kelly2

Whoo boy–last week, Trump's lawyers in J6 case filed a 9-page discovery letter seeking lots of records from Special Counsel and DOJ related to 2020 election and Jan 6.

Some highlights:

Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump could backfire if Trump’s team gets some of the documents in its discovery request.

Trump’s attorneys said in last week’s motion: “We have found many redacted documents in the discovery production.”

The Gateway Pundit has reported numerous times on suspected federal agents (Ray Epps?) who infiltrated the January 6 crowd.

Michael Waller, a senior analyst for strategy at the Center for Security Policy specializing in propaganda, political warfare, psychological warfare, and subversion, said he was at the Capitol on January 6 and witnessed:

Plainclothes militants. Militant, aggressive men in Donald Trump and MAGA gear at a front police line at the base of the temporary presidential inaugural platform;

Agents-provocateurs. Scattered groups of men exhorting the marchers to gather closely and tightly toward the center of the outside of the Capitol building and prevent them from leaving;

Fake Trump protesters. A few young men wearing Trump or MAGA hats backward and who did not fit in with the rest of the crowd in terms of their actions and demeanor, whom I presumed to be Antifa or other leftist agitators; and

Disciplined, uniformed column of attackers. A column of organized, disciplined men, wearing similar but not identical camouflage uniforms and black gear, some with helmets and GoPro cameras or wearing subdued Punisher skull patches.

Antifa terrorists also infiltrated the Capitol protest.

Trump supporters were blamed for all of the violence and chaos at the Capitol on January 6, but according to a former FBI agent, Antifa terrorists infiltrated the Trump rally.

Via investigative reporter Paul Sperry: Former FBI agent on the ground at the U.S. Capitol just texted me and confirmed that at least 1 “busload” of Antifa thugs infiltrated peaceful Trump demonstrators as part of a false Trump flag ops

Over the summer Tucker Carlson said he interviewed the Chief of Police who was at the Capitol on January 6 and in charge of security that day.

“I interviewed the Chief of the Capitol Police, Steven Sund, in an interview that was never aired on FOX by the way, I was fired before it could air. I’m gonna interview him again,” Tucker said. “But Steven Sund was the totally non-political, worked for Nancy Pelosi.”

“I mean this was not some right-wing activist – he was the Chief of the Capitol Police on January 6, and he said, ‘Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that crowd was filled with federal agents…’”

Tucker continued, “As time passed, it became more and more obvious that the core claims they made about January 6 were lies.”

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/11/trump-lawyers-file-motion-discovery-jack-smith-case/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=trump-lawyers-file-motion-discovery-jack-smith-case