Untangling Jan. 6 involves pulling on a lot of cords--and following the money

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2021/8/31/2049343/-Untangling-Jan-6-involves-pulling-on-a-lot-of-cords-and-following-the-money


“Follow the money” is a handy bit of kit in a lot of situations. When it comes to looking at the events of Jan. 6, it’s good advice. Because, as OpenSecrets.org has revealed, Donald Trump’s various campaign funds paid out over $4.3 million to the people who organized the insurgency warm-up rally on Jan. 6. In fact, running down the list of people, there seems to be considerable overlap in the “staff” for Trump and the supposedly grassroots protest. That includes Trump’s campaign director of operations, his national finance consultant, and at least half a dozen other people on the payroll of Trump’s various campaign PACs.

Last week, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurgency sent out a long list of requests for documents. That list included documents related to almost every adult member of Trump’s family (excluding Tiffany), several long-time campaign advisors including Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, and a long list of others involved in planning or executing events on that day. Several of those who worked for both Trump’s campaign staff and the various organizations that put together the “Stop the Steal” event were included on that list, but far from all.

This only shows that, as sweeping as the committee’s requests were, they’re still insufficient to come close to capturing the full scope of individuals and organizations involved, which should be no surprise. After all, the Republican Party has spent decades setting up a seemingly infinite number of “institutes” and “foundations” and “think tanks” through which a handful of extremely wealthy donors can turn their money into action. Add to this a Citizen’s United-fueled PAC infrastructure and the kind of morass of entangled power and money that people visualize when talking about “the swamp” absolutely exists—on the right.

Now introduce to this Donald Trump, a man whose 100% one-man-owned “empire” consists of over 500 companies and corporations created expressly to disguise his own real worth, moving money around without visibility, and creating the illusion of actions necessary to generate tax breaks. Trump really was out to drain the swamp … right into his personal swamp.

*snip*