Former Trump campaign officials helped organize the January 6 rally

• Some former employees of President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign helped secure permission for the January 6 rally that preceded the deadly Capitol riot, according to public records.
• The Trump campaign has repeatedly denied being directly involved in organizing the rally.
• According to the Associated Press, those listed as organizers in the official rally paperwork include former campaign officials Megan Powers, Caroline Wren, Maggie Mulvaney, Justin Caporale and Tim Unes.
• Some of these former employees struggled to hide their connections to the rally after it happened, added the AP.
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President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign repeatedly said he was not involved in organizing the January 6 rally that led to the deadly attack on the Capitol.

But a review of official paperwork by the Associated Press, The Washington Post and ABC News shows that former Trump campaign officials helped secure authorization for the “Save America” ​​rally and were listed as official organizers of the event.

At this event, Trump addressed his supporters, telling them to “fight like hell”.

The group “Mulheres pelo Trunfo”, which is not officially connected to the campaign, technically hosted the event.

But the paperwork reviewed by the AP shows that several former Trump campaign officials helped the group get permission to hold the rally at Ellipse, a park near the White House.

Several of these former campaign officials and the White House were also listed in this paperwork as being on-site employees during the event, including:

• Megan Powers, who according to the AP was listed as one of the two operations managers in the rally. Her LinkedIn profile says she worked as the chief operating officer for the Trump campaign later this month.
• Caroline Wren, who was listed as a VIP advisor on the rally authorization paperwork, according to the AP. Federal Electoral Commission records show that she received $ 20,000 for Trump’s re-election campaign between mid-March and mid-November. The AP also found that Wren deleted several tweets about the riot after the riot.
• Maggie Mulvaney was listed as a VIP leader for the rally, according to the AP. Mulvaney, niece of former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney – who left her role as U.S. envoy to Northern Ireland, citing the Capitol riot – worked as director of financial operations for the Trump campaign, according to her LinkedIn profile.
• Justin Caporale, former aide to First Lady Melania Trump, was listed as the event’s project manager, reports the AP. FEC records show that he was on the Trump campaign’s payroll for most of 2020.
• Tim Unes, Caporale’s business partner at Event Strategies, was listed as the stage manager for the rally, according to AP. According to an Insider review of the FEC files, Unes has been regularly paid by the Trump campaign, his most recent payment being more than $ 6,000 in November.
• Hannah Salem, who spent three years as a senior press officer for the White House, according to her LinkedIn profile, was the “manager of logistics and communications operations” for the rally, according to AP.

None of the above responded to the AP’s request for comment and many blocked an AP reporter who sought them out on Twitter. Insider contacted the former Trump associates listed for comment on Monday morning, but did not receive a response immediately.

In a statement to AP and ABC News, the Trump campaign said it “did not organize, operate or finance the event” and that no member of the campaign team was involved in organizing or operating the rally.

He said that if any former employee or independent contractor helped organize the event, “they did not do so under the direction of the Trump campaign.”

The Washington Post also reported that several established Republican groups were involved in the demonstrations that led to the riot and have since tried to distance themselves from the violence. The groups include the Association of Republican Attorneys General and activist groups Turning Point Action and Tea Party Patriots.

Trump was charged with the historic second time last week for his role in inciting the rally to march to the Capitol, where pro-Trump supporters became violent, stormed the building and sent lawmakers running for safety. A total of five people died as a result of the rebellion.

Read More: Mitch McConnell is telling Republican senators that his decision to condemn Trump in the impeachment trial is a ‘vote of conscience’

With President-elect Joe Biden sworn in two days from now, the Secret Service is leading an effort by several agencies to protect Washington, DC, from further violence.