Donald Trump and the Republican Party scammed money from supporters over false claims of election fraud. The Trump campaign raised $255.4 million in the eight-plus weeks following the Nov. 3 election.

During Monday’s January 6 hearing, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) mentioned about how Trump’s campaign sent “millions” of emails to his supporters about how they needed to “step up” to protect election integrity.

“Not only was there the Big Lie, there was the Big Ripoff,” Lofgren said.

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According to testimony, the money was to go to the so-called the “Official Election Defense Fund” — which doesn’t appear to have actually existed. The money went to Trump’s newly created Save America PAC, which then made contributions to Mark Meadows’ charity, to a conservative organization employing former Trump staffers, to the Trump Hotel Collection, and to the company that organized the rally that preceded the attack on the Capitol last Jan. 6.

“The evidence developed by the select committee highlights how the Trump campaign aggressively pushed false election claims to fundraise, telling supporters it would be used to fight voter fraud that did not exist,” Amanda Wick, a lawyer for the Jan. 6 committee said. “The emails continued through Jan. 6, even as Trump spoke on the Ellipse. Thirty minutes after the last fundraising email was sent, the Capitol was breached.”

Monday’s hearing brought new information to light on what happened the night of the 2020 election.

In a deposition tape, former Attorney General Bill Barr said Trump claimed election fraud “right out of the box on election night … before there was actually any potential of looking at evidence.”

Also Read | Trump claimed election win on advice of an ‘apparently inebriated’ Giuliani: Cheney

Bill Stepien, Trump’s former campaign manager, said in a video clip that he had recommended the former president that it was too early to declare who had won the election, but Trump disagreed. 

The third hearing is set to take place Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET.