Latest news with #Fago
NBC News
01-08-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Trump's super PAC raises a massive $177 million, bolstering his political influence
The super PAC affiliated with President Donald Trump's raised $177 million in the first half of 2025, new fundraising reports show — with GOP megadonors, key Trump allies (including some government officials), big business, a secret-money group and a family member of a person who received a presidential pardon among those filling the group's coffers ahead of next year's midterms. Even in an era of overflowing money in politics, the massive sum sticks out. It is a sign that Trump's political operation will continue to wield major influence even though Trump himself is barred by term limits from running for president again. The group spent just $4.6 million over that time, meaning it has more than $196 million banked away as Trump continues to put his stamp on the Republican Party and looks to keep Congress in GOP control in the 2026 midterm elections. Trump also has yet more money nestled away in other committees he can use for various political causes. The list of MAGA Inc. donors included Elizabeth Fago of Florida, who made a donation of $1 million on April 3. Nursing home executive Paul Walczak, Fago's son, received a pardon from Trump on April 23 after pleading guilty to tax crimes months earlier. According to The New York Times, Walczak's pardon application highlighted Fago's political activity, and Fago attended a pricey fundraiser for the Trump super PAC shortly before Walczak received a pardon. Fago's $1 million donation exceeds all of her previous individual donations to GOP campaigns combined, according to Federal Election Commission records. Billionaire GOP megadonor Jeff Yass, who donated $16 million to the group, was the Trump super PAC's top donor. After sending MAGA Inc. $1 million days before Trump's inauguration, Yass gave another $15 million in early March. His trading firm holds a significant stake in the parent company of the Chinese social media giant TikTok, and Trump has repeatedly delayed implementing legislation banning the app in America until it could be sold to an American owner. The second-largest donation in the new report, $13.75 million, came from a nonprofit group called Securing American Greatness, Inc. The nonprofit popped up in 2024 and ran ads on Trump's behalf ahead of last year's election, and it doesn't have to publicly disclose its donors. Kelcy Warren, the head of energy company Energy Transfer LP, gave the Trump super PAC another $12.5 million, while cryptocurrency firms Foris DAX and gave $10 million and $5 million, respectively. Elon Musk also chipped in $5 million to MAGA Inc. on June 27, when he also gave the same amounts to the main Republican super PACs involved in House and Senate races. Musk spent heavily to help Trump win in 2024 and joined his White House. But just weeks before his donation to the pro-Trump group, Musk left the White House while criticizing Trump's signature tax cuts and spending bill and while attacking the president for his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Kelly Loeffler, who is now a member of Trump's Cabinet as head of the Small Business Administration, gave $2.5 million to MAGA Inc. on June 25. Her husband, Intercontinental Exchange CEO Jeffrey Sprecher, gave another $2.5 million. Jared Isaacman, the billionaire entrepreneur Trump tapped to lead NASA before pulling his nomination in early June, gave the group $1 million on the final day of June. And Warren Stephens, the Arkansas-based businessman whom Trump tapped as his ambassador to the United Kingdom, gave $1 million. Other prominent donors include: Venture capitalists Ben Horowitz and Marc Andreesen, who each gave $3 million. Ronald Lauder, an heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics and pro-Israel activist, who gave $5 million. Billionaire businessman Timothy Mellon, who gave almost $2 million. Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson, the president of In-N-Out Burger, who gave $2 million. William Ford, an investment CEO who also serves on the board of TikTok parent company ByteDance, who gave $1.25 million. Antonio Gracias, a private equity CEO who served in a high-ranking, volunteer role with Trump's "Department of Government Efficiency," who gave $1 million. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who gave $1 million. early Bitcoin investors, who each gave about $500,000.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump Issues Not-So-Coincidental Pardon of Massive Tax Cheat
Paul Walzack, a former nursing home executive guilty of tax fraud, got a full and unconditional pardon from President Trump after his mother attended a $1 million-per-person dinner with the president, according to The New York Times. His mother, a major Trump supporter, also happened to be involved in the 2020 plot to publicize Ashley Biden's stolen diary. Walzack was found guilty of stealing over $10 million from the paychecks of the nurses and doctors who worked for him to finance a yacht and other luxury items. He was charged in February 2023 on 13 counts of tax crimes, and eventually pleaded guilty and paid $4.4 million in restitution as Trump won back the White House in November. Walzack initially received no response from the Trump administration regarding a pardon request he submitted around Inauguration Day. But in April his mother, Elizabeth Fago, attended a $1 million entry dinner that included guaranteed face time with the president. The dinner was sponsored by MAGA Inc., a PAC that backs causes and candidates supported by Trump. It's not clear whether Fago donated to MAGA Inc., or how much, but three weeks later her son got his pardon. Walzack and his mother are well established within the MAGAverse. Fago has donated millions of dollars to GOP campaigns. She's hosted at least three Trump fundraisers and went to the VIP portions of both Trump inaugurations, where she cozied up to the president in photos posted on her Instagram. Fago was also deeply involved in a scheme to publicize the diary of Ashley Biden, former President Joe Biden's daughter, after she left it at a beach house in Florida. Aimee Harris, and Robert Kurlander, the individuals who stole the diary, brought it to a fundraiser at Fago's home in 2020 where it was shown to a Trump campaign organizer. Harris was sentenced to a month in prison and Kurlander is awaiting sentencing. This is yet another example of Trump's flippant use of his executive pardon power. Show him some loyalty, and some money, and you could get out of jail too.
New York Times
26-04-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Trump Pardons Executive Whose Family Sought to Publicize Ashley Biden's Diary
President Trump on Wednesday pardoned a Florida health care executive whose mother played a role in trying to expose the contents of Ashley Biden's diary. The pardon of the executive, Paul Walczak, was signed privately and posted on the Justice Department's website on Friday. It came less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution, for tax crimes that prosecutors said were used to finance a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht. Mr. Walczak's mother, Elizabeth Fago, who was also involved in the health care industry in Florida, is a longtime Republican donor and fund-raiser who played a role in a surreptitious effort to help Mr. Trump by undermining Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the 2020 presidential election. During the campaign, Ms. Fago was contacted by a man who was in possession of a diary kept by Mr. Biden's daughter, Ashley, as she recovered from addiction, The New York Times previously reported. When first told of the diary, Ms. Fago said she thought it would help Mr. Trump's chances of winning the election if it was made public, two people familiar with the matter later told The Times. The man, Robert Kurlander, circulated the diary at a fund-raiser at Ms. Fago's house in Jupiter, Fla., in September 2020. Ms. Fago's daughter passed along a tip about the diary to Project Veritas, a conservative group that had become a favorite of Mr. Trump's. Project Veritas later paid $40,000 to Mr. Kurlander and an associate, Aimee Harris, for the diary. The Justice Department investigated the theft and handling of the diary, which included scrutiny of Ms. Fago and her daughter. Neither they nor anyone from Project Veritas was charged, but Mr. Kurlander and Ms. Harris were convicted in connection with the scheme. There is no evidence that Mr. Walczak was involved in the effort to acquire the diary, and the charges against him were unrelated to the matter. He had donated a total of about $450 to Mr. Trump's 2020 campaign around the time of the fund-raiser at his mother's home, but it is not clear whether he attended it. Asked about the pardon, he declined to comment and did not respond to a follow-up message inquiring about the diary. Ms. Fago, who has donated more than $16,000 to Mr. Trump's committees and was nominated by him in December 2020 to the National Cancer Advisory Board, did not respond to a request for comment. The pardon of Mr. Walczak comes as Mr. Trump is increasingly using his nearly unfettered clemency powers to reward allies, highlight his grievances about what he sees as the political weaponization of the justice system and swipe at perceived enemies, including the Bidens. Last month, Mr. Trump granted clemency to Devon Archer and Jason Galanis. The men are former business partners of Mr. Biden's son Hunter, and earned fans on the political right by testifying to Republican-controlled congressional committees about the overlap between the younger Mr. Biden's business dealings and the elder Mr. Biden's public service. Raymond R. Granger, a lawyer who represented Mr. Walczak in his criminal tax case, confirmed that he had drafted the pardon application with assistance from two lawyers with whom he worked on the case, Richard Levitt and Dennis Kainen. In a statement, Mr. Granger said 'Paul and his family are truly grateful to the president, and Paul looks forward to returning his focus to his lifelong passion for improving the country's health care system.' The clemency grant for Mr. Walczak came on the same day as Mr. Trump issued a pardon to Michele Fiore, a Nevada Republican politician who was convicted last year in connection with a scheme to use charitable donations for personal expenses, including plastic surgery, rent and her daughter's wedding. A White House official said, without providing evidence, that Mr. Walczak and Ms. Fiore had been the victims of biased prosecutions under the Biden Justice Department.
