The ‘big rip-off’: how Trump exploited his fans with ‘election defense’ fund

The former president used donations to a nonexistent legal defense fund for his hotels and the January 6 Ellipse rally

At 8.38pm on 4 November 2021, the day after America had gone to the polls to elect its next president, Donald Trump sent out a message to hundreds of thousands of his supporters from the email address contact@victory.donaldtrump.com.

By then it was already clear that not only was victory eluding Trump, but that he was heading towards defeat. A couple of hours earlier, Associated Press had called Michigan and Wisconsin for Joe Biden, putting the Democratic candidate just six electoral college votes away from the White House.