Trump campaign receiving donations from 2020 'fake electors'

The presidential campaign of former President Donald Trump is receiving donations from "fake electors," the Guardian reports. 

By "fake electors," the outlet is referring to the alternate electors who tried to help Trump to reverse the initial results of the 2020 presidential election.

According to the Guardian, these same individuals are now helping Trump to win the 2024 presidential election, albeit in a different way.

Per the outlet:

The people who served as fake electors in an effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election have continued to donate to Donald Trump, JD Vance and other Republicans since then, campaign finance records show, underscoring the role they continue to play in US politics.

The details

This information was found by Issue One, which refers to itself as "a leading crosspartisan political reform group in Washington, D.C."

Interesting it is that the group uses the term "crosspartisan" rather than "nonpartisan." As we will see, this reporting from Issue One appears to be anti-Trump in motivation.

According to the group, Trump, his running mate - U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) - and other Republicans are receiving thousands of dollars in donations from these "fake electors."

The Guardian reports:

Meshawn Maddock, a former co-chair of the Michigan Republican party, has given more than $1,800 to Trump and allied fundraising groups this campaign cycle, according to federal campaign finance records. Maddock is one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan who were criminally charged by Dana Nessel, the Democratic Michigan attorney general, last summer and has pleaded not guilty. Tyler Bowyer, who has also pleaded not guilty for his role as a fake elector in Arizona, donated $645 this year to Trump.

The outlet goes on to highlight other donations that Trump and other Republicans have received from "fake electors."

Here's the real point of the story:

It is an attempt to paint Trump in a bad light.

Issue One research director Michael Beckel has put out a statement, saying, "It is incredibly rare for politicians to accept campaign contributions from people under indictment."

He continued:

It’s generally not good optics for politicians to accept money from people accused of serious wrongdoing. Political candidates generally don’t want to be tied to convicted or accused felons. Yet in certain circles, association with the people who served as fake electors for Donald Trump in 2020 may be a badge of honor.

Neither Trump nor a member of his campaign team has put out a statement in response to this report.

This is likely because they do not consider it a big deal.