Trump Campaign Raises $4M Off Indictment News

Reporter in NYC Friday

Donald Trump’s presidential campaign says it raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours after reports that the former president had been indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan on charges related to a hush-money payment, according to Bloomberg.

News of the indictment came Thursday — the day before the end of a quarterly reporting period for campaign contributions, when federal candidates often escalate their fundraising efforts to demonstrate the strength of their support.

“This is the battle I willingly signed up for when I decided to take on the entire Washington Machine as a political outsider 8 years ago, and be YOUR voice,” Trump said in a Friday fundraising email, which dubiously promised that donations would have “1,500% impact.”

Trump is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on the charges. His fundraising appeal, quoting a New York Times article reveled in the details of his arraignment: “He will be fingerprinted. He will be photographed. He may even be handcuffed.”

The Trump campaign said contributions came from all 50 states within five hours of the indictment news, and 25% of the donations came from first-time donors.

Those numbers can’t be confirmed until the campaign files its first quarter report by April 15. The campaign had less than $4 million to start the year after transferring $68.9 million from various campaign accounts to an affiliated Super PAC.

The exact charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg haven’t been released. But the Associated Press reported Friday that at least one is a felony charge related to an alleged scheme to pay hush money to pornographic actress Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election to cover up a sexual liaison.

Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer, was convicted in 2018 on tax evasion and campaign finance violations for facilitating the $130,000 payment.