Riot suspects donated to Trump, GOP
According to campaign finance records, many of the people charged in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot sent money to former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign. Even after his loss in November, they threw their cash behind his efforts to challenge the election as he claimed it was stolen.
A USA TODAY analysis of Federal Elections Commissions records for 2019 and 2020 reveals that at least 75 of the 307 people charged in connection with the riot through March 18 made political donations. More than 98% of the contributions went to Republican candidates and committees, and nearly 87% of them donated to Trump.
Despite the repeated insistence of some Republicans that antifa agitators attacked the Capitol that day, the contributions show that those who took part were there for Trump.
“It’s yet another indicator of exactly who these rioters were: they were clearly rioters who were supportive of Republican voices in Congress and Donald Trump in particular,” said Costas Panagopoulos, professor of political science at Northeastern University.
“With each new data point, the narrative that the Capitol rioters were, as a group, anything but mainly Trump and GOP supporters is crumbling.”
Among USA TODAY’S other findings:
● Accused rioters gave at least $39,734, with the majority ($24,822) going to Trump. Donations to Democratic candidates or campaigns accounted for at least $650, less than 2% of the total. Even that is skewed by one contributor who gave more than $500 to Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
● Money continued to roll in after the Nov. 3 election, with more than $10,600 (25%) of all contributions coming as Trump fundraised off his claims that he had won the election and needed to fight it in court. At least 40 of the accused rioters made contributions after the election.
● The median contributor gave $150. Eleven people gave more than $1,000.
USA TODAY’S totals are almost certainly an undercount of donors. Federal laws require campaigns to itemize contributions from individuals exceeding $200.
While the FEC data on the rioters included some contributions below that amount, others likely went unrecorded.
Republican politicians and rightwing media have pushed conspiracy theories that antifa provocateurs led the attack. During a hearing on the riot last month, Sen. Ron Johnson. R-wis., read an article that claimed provocateurs were responsible for the violence. Johnson argued the majority of Trump supporters are pro-law enforcement and wouldn’t violate the law.
Asked Thursday about the campaign contributions accused rioters made, a spokesman for Johnson drew a distinction between the people charged and the thousands of Trump supporters gathered at the Capitol.
“The senator and you are discussing two distinct groups of people,” he said. “Your findings about the one, small group he has condemned have no bearing on the much larger group that peacefully exercised its First Amendment right of protest.”