Trump's Conviction Ignites Surge in Campaign Contributions

The recent conviction of former President Donald Trump in a New York trial has sparked a record-shattering flood of donations to his campaign, surpassing $200 million in just three days. This unprecedented fundraising haul signals a growing tide of support among Trump's base, who perceive the verdict as yet another abuse of power.

If you're not astounded by the $70 million+ in "small dollar" contributions that surged into former President Donald Trump's campaign in the first 72 hours after his Manhattan trial verdicts, then you're probably not very knowledgeable about politics. That is because nothing of this magnitude has ever happened before.

Don't believe the scale of this political Krakatoa? Don't take my word for it; ask the Democrats. Here's the opening paragraph from a March 2024 Washington Post report on the "three presidents" gala at Radio City Music Hall: "In a show of force his campaign is calling the ‘most successful political fundraiser in American history,’ President Biden raised more than $25 million during a New York event Thursday featuring former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton."

According to Eric Trump, who appeared on "Sunday Morning Futures Maria Bartiromo" this past weekend, the record-setting influx of small dollar donations was accompanied by large donations, which, when combined with the small donors, totaled over $200 million in donations to the Trump campaign in the three days following the verdicts.

This mountain of new campaign funds signifies that the verdicts were the proverbial "last straw" for countless Trump supporters, both old and new. A staggering number of ordinary Americans were disgusted enough with the verdicts to support Trump financially in his ongoing campaign.

Why is that? The reasons are as diverse as the donors themselves, but after speaking with a dozen contributors—mostly new donors—on my radio show Monday, their responses corroborated my hunch that the majority of Americans perceive the New York trial and convictions as another abuse of power intended to "get Trump." Yet another abuse of power in a protracted drama that, for them, became the proverbial "last straw."

Let's enumerate the previous "straws":

1. Hillary Clinton's private server and the rules it violated, jeopardizing national security, yet no prosecution.

2. Hillary Clinton's attorneys deleting half of her emails without facing prosecution.

3. Hillary Clinton's use of BleachBit and hammers, again without prosecution.

4. Former FBI Director James Comey's "nothing to see here" conclusion on the Clinton emails on former congressman Anthony Weiner's laptop.

5. The Steele Dossier.

6. Marc Elias and his then-law firm Perkins Coie's involvement in the 2016 campaign, including hiring Fusion GPS to "conduct the research" and create the Steele dossier.

7. The leak of the Steele dossier to Mother Jones and other media outlets.

8. The meeting (ambush?) between President-elect Trump and then-CIA Director Brennan, then-FBI Director Comey, and then-DNI Director Clapper at Trump Tower in January 2017, culminating in Comey briefing the president-elect on the most salacious parts of the dossier. (This news was leaked almost instantly.)

9. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' recusal from any matter involving the Trump 2016 campaign.

10. Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein appointing Robert S. Mueller III to serve as Special Counsel to oversee the investigation of Russian government efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election and related matters.

11. The team of hyper-partisan prosecutors assembled by Mueller.

12. The disclosures from the Peter Strzok-Lisa Page messages about the corruption within the FBI.

13. The 22 months Mueller and his attack squad wasted in investigating... nothing.

14. The two thick volumes of the "Mueller report" intended to cover the dead-end paths Team Mueller had pursued.

15. Team Mueller's refusal to provide then-Attorney General William Barr with an unclassified version of the report that he had requested so that it could be released immediately, which the Mueller team failed to do.

16. The smearing of Barr for allegedly hiding the report and then the subsequent smearing of Barr for concluding that there was no obstruction.

17. The leaked Trump phone call with Ukrainian President Zelensky.

18. The concoction of Impeachment One based on that call.

19. The lies of Rep. Adam Schiff throughout the Mueller investigation and during the impeachment.

20. The alterations to voting rules due to COVID.

21. The "Zuckerbucks" and "Zuckerboxes."

22. The Commission on Presidential Debates' 2020 moderator selection and its unilateral decision to cancel one of the debates.

23. The Hunter Biden laptop and the widespread censorship of related stories when the New York Post obtained the exclusive.

24. The letter from "51 former senior intelligence officials" alleging that the emails on Biden's laptop "have all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation."

25. The lawlessness during the summer of 2020 following the murder of George Floyd (and the refusal to acknowledge that protestors were violating COVID guidelines despite the closure of churches, beaches, and playgrounds).

26. The second impeachment after the January 6th Capitol riot, an effort launched even though the transition to President Biden in two weeks would clearly preclude a timely proceeding with due process, let alone for an outgoing president.

27. The FBI's entrapment of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn (USA, ret.) and his subsequent prosecution.

28. The conduct not just of Comey, Page, and Strzok, but also of the Bureau's Andrew McCabe and James Baker.

29. The manipulation of the House Select Committee on January 6th by then-Speaker Pelosi, who rejected future Indiana Senator Jim Banks as ranking minority member and proceeded to appoint two anti-Trump Republicans to the sham "committee." This entire charade reflected this fundamental breach of trust with voters, rigging the proceedings to play out as they did.

30. The FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago.

31. The appointment of Jack Smith as Special Counsel (despite the Supreme Court reversing his prosecution and conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell).

32. The appointment of a different Special Counsel, Robert Hur, to President Biden's classified documents case and the plainly different standard of prosecution applied to Biden compared to Trump.

33. The conduct of and civil case against Trump brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

34. The conduct of New York Judge Arthur Engoron during that civil proceeding and his outrageous bond setting.

35. The proceedings and verdicts in the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit.

36. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's campaign promise to prosecute Trump.

37. Bragg's indictment of Trump for resurrected time-barred misdemeanors but without specifying in the indictment the "second crime" that elevated those time-barred misdemeanors into felonies suitable for prosecution.

38. Trial court Judge Juan Merchan's blatant contributions to the 2020 Joe Biden campaign and two hard-left causes—contravening explicit New York law governing judicial conduct—and Merchan's refusal to recuse himself from the Trump trial.

39. Merchan's anti-Trump rulings on numerous issues, ranging from admitting plea bargains with Michael Cohen and David Pecker that the defense contested to refusing to allow former Federal Elections Commission Chair Professor Brad Smith to testify fully, signaling the judge's pursuit of a conviction.

40. Merchan's excoriation of defense witness Robert Costello and the judge's interference with Costello's testimony.

41. The judge's failure to provide clear instructions on the "second crime" state of mind requirement.

42. The jury's failure to specify the "second crime" on the verdict paper.

43. Judge Tanya Chutkan's attempt to rush a trial in federal district court in D.C.

44. The gag order on Trump imposed by trial judge Engoron in the case brought by James.

45. The gag order on Trump imposed by trial judge Chutkan in the case brought by Smith in D.C.

46. The gag order on Trump imposed by Merchan.

47. The trial's four-day-per-week schedule in the spring of the election year, forcing Trump to appear in a Manhattan courtroom for six weeks, thus interfering with his presidential campaign.

48. The conduct of both Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney