Trump fundraising committee raised $30.9mn at close of 2020

WASHINGTON: Former President Donald Trump's fundraising committee, formed after he lost the November election to Democrat Joe Biden, raised $30.9 million in the final weeks of 2020, according to a disclosure filed on Sunday.

The filing with the Federal Election Commission showed that "Save America," a Trump leadership PAC, or political action committee, ended the year with just over $31 million in cash.

The size of the haul - taken in from Nov. 24 to Dec. 31 - gives a measure of Trump's power to influence Republican politics even out of office.

As he faces his second Senate impeachment trial, on a charge of inciting his followers' deadly storming of the US Capitol on Jan. 6, many congressional Republicans have defended Trump or attacked the impeachment process.

The roughly $31 million raised over roughly the past five weeks of 2020 rivaled the sums raised by Trump's re-election campaign earlier in 2020. In May and June of 2020, for example, his campaign raised about $25 million and $55 million, respectively.

Trump could use the funds to support or oppose Republicans in the 2022 congressional elections.

His options include contributing to lawmakers he views as loyal to him, such as US Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, as a possible Senate contender, or funding challengers to those he sees as disloyal, such as US Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the highest-ranking House of Representatives Republican to vote to impeach him.