OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:54 PM – Wednesday, June 14, 2023
Former President Donald Trump earned a little over $2 million at his campaign’s first major event, hours after his arraignment in Miami, Florida.
An insider familiar with the campaign says that they raised $2.04 million over a “candlelight dinner” with senior fundraisers and campaign bundlers.
According to one attendee, Trump made brief remarks to the crowd of supporters and sat at a table with contributors and fans, which included Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.).
While Trump’s campaign has mostly depended on grassroots contributions, the dinner, which had a goal of generating roughly $2 million, highlights how Trump has been able to rely on deep-pocketed supporters to replenish his campaign coffers even while he has been embroiled in legal difficulties.
The campaign has not yet provided details on how much money Trump raised in the aftermath of his indictment, but it intends to make those figures public given the chaos around his arrest and a flood of fundraising appeals from his campaign.
Trump spent Tuesday in court in Miami, where he pleaded not guilty to federal criminal accusations that he hid classified documents at his Palm Beach residence at Mar-a-Lago and obstructed government efforts to recover critical records.
The former president is charged with 37 felony charges, including 31 counts of alleged deliberate retention of national security records and six counts of hindering the federal operation to obtain those materials.
Following his arraignment, Trump proceeded to his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, with his team of advisers and attorneys, where he addressed a gathering of fans and supporters, some of whom came halfway across the nation at the last minute to see Trump.
Donors who paid $1,000 or more to attend Trump’s fundraiser were escorted inside the club following the speeches for the remainder of the event. Earlier, Ric Grenell, Trump’s former acting director of national intelligence, spoke to the large audience inside.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s current fiancée who was once married to Governor Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.), was also present and talked with contributors.
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