Fundraiser for Jan. 6 rioters at Trump’s golf club is postponed
A gala event to raise money for some of the rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, set to take place Thursday at former President Donald Trump’s golf club in New Jersey, has been postponed, according to the event website.
While Trump had not been planning to attend the soiree — billed as the J6 Awards Gala — the event attracted attention for the way it reinforced the strong connections he has maintained with those who stormed the Capitol on his behalf at an awkward moment: just as his campaign to return to the White House enters its final stages.
The event’s website did not provide a reason for the delay or mention a new date when it might take place. But the primary planner, Sarah McAbee, who runs a nonprofit organization called the Stand in the Gap Foundation, which supports Jan. 6 defendants, said she would try to reschedule it for after the November election, perhaps in February, according to text messages obtained by The New York Times.
“I want you to know that we fought until the absolute last minute to have the event,” the text messages said, “but there were multiple issues outside of our control, the main one being safety concerns of attendees and staff.”
McAbee is the wife of Ronald Colton McAbee, a former deputy sheriff from Tennessee who is serving five years in prison after being convicted of attacking police officers at the Capitol on Jan. 6. The event’s location, Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, highlighted the former president’s attempts to normalize the events of Jan. 6, including by often praising those who took part in the Capitol attack.
Gala attendees were asked to shell out $2,500 for a single ticket (or $50,000 for a “platinum table” of 12) for the chance to mingle with the families of indicted rioters and to win a custom plaque commemorating “Justice for All,” a song featuring a choir of some of the most violent riot defendants who are now locked up in Washington’s local jail, along with Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.
The featured guests were expected to include top former Trump aides such as Rudy Giuliani, who is under indictment in Phoenix and Atlanta on charges of trying to help Trump overturn the 2020 election, and Peter Navarro, a onetime White House trade adviser who recently completed a four-month stint in prison for ignoring a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the riot.
Even though the future of the event is now in doubt, it was in keeping with Trump’s persistent efforts to rewrite the history of Jan. 6.
He has often appeared with Jan. 6 defendants at private events at some of his properties and has repeatedly described them as “hostages” and “political prisoners.” Trump has also promised several times to pardon those charged in connection with the Capitol attack, including those who assaulted police officers.
The subject has helped him to strengthen the bonds he shares with his supporters by painting them the way he likes to paint himself — as victims of a federal law enforcement system run amok. But his decision to not distance himself from the events of Jan. 6 is likely to be a riskier proposition in the general election than in the primaries if he aims to attract independent voters, who might be put off by attempts to lionize rioters who violently disrupted the normal transfer of presidential power.
Trump himself is, of course, facing multiple conspiracy charges in connection with the events of Jan. 6. He was re-indicted on new charges brought last week by federal prosecutors who sought to reframe their allegations to comport with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting former presidents a broad form of immunity for official acts taken in office.
In fact, the same day that the fundraiser in Bedminster had been set to take place, a hearing will be held in U.S. District Court in Washington to determine how to assess the effect the Supreme Court’s decision will have on Trump’s case.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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