A group of wealthy conservatives have funneled $140 million to a series of organizations that could work to support GOP efforts to challenge the 2024 presidential election results.
Hobby Lobby founder David Green and Wisconsin shipping billionaires Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein are among those making sizeable donations to these groups, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Many of these groups have been scrutinizing voter records nationwide, advocating for policies to slow the vote count and supporting conservative officials who could spearhead efforts to challenge the outcome of the 2024 election, according to the Journal.
The Journal reports Green helps fund The Servant Foundation, which donated to one of these so-called election integrity groups: the Conservative Partnership Institute, which founded the Election Integrity Network. However, Hobby Lobby told the Journal that Green was not aware of the institute and had not directed the foundation to support it.
“I am very proud of the Election Integrity Network and the thousands of patriotic Americans” Cleta Mitchell, election lawyer and head of the Conservative Partnership Institute, told the Journal.
David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told the Journal that many claims made by this election integrity movement are “not designed to fix problems now.”
“They’re designed to set the stage for claiming the election was stolen post-election,” Becker said.
The Independent has contacted the Uihleins and Green through their respective companies for comment.
Donald Trump is facing charges in Washington, DC, and Fulton County, Georgia, both related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, which President Joe Biden legitimately won.
In the nation’s capital, Trump faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, obstruction of an official proceeding and deprivation of civil rights under color of law following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
In Georgia, Trump and more than a dozen of his allies were charged in a similar case, with prosecutors claiming they tried to subvert the state’s 2020 election results.
In all his cases, the former president has denied any wrongdoing.
Vice President Kamala Harris said her team already has a plan in place if Trump prematurely declares victory before the ballots are counted, as he did in 2020.
“We will deal with election night and the days after as they come,” Harris told NBC News this week. “We have the resources and the expertise and focus on that as well.”
“This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo the free and fair election,” she continued. “Who still denies the will of the people. Who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capital and 140 law enforcement officers who were attacked, some who were killed. This is a serious matter.”
