‘They Will Destroy Us:’ January 6 Rally Organizers Ask For Cash As They Face Subpoenas
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Amy Kremer is looking for help as she faces a subpoena from the House Select committee that is investigating the January 6 attack. Kremer, who is the chairwoman of Women For America First, the organization that helped organize the rally on the White House Ellipse that preceded the storming of the U.S. Capitol building that day, has launched a legal defense fund and is asking other conservative activists for support.
“It makes me sick but we have to have counsel for this. Otherwise they will destroy us,” Kremer wrote in a text message to an associate that was obtained by The Uprising.
Kremer’s text was provided by a source who is being granted anonymity due to the ongoing investigation. In the message, Kremer asked recipients to share a link to a fundraiser page on Givesendgo, which is billed as the “#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site.”
“We are reaching out to all of our friends and asking if they can help share the link,” Kremer wrote. “We are not a wealthy family and WFAF is only funded by the grassroots.”
Kremer, who did not respond to a request for comment, gained prominence in the early days of the Tea Party movement. She was chairwoman of the group Tea Party Express until 2014. According to documents obtained by the Center For Media And Democracy, Women For America First, which is a tax exempt “social welfare organization,” has been active since at least 2019. The group’s website describes it as focused on backing “the America First agenda” and stopping “the liberal crowd from controlling the media’s narrative and our efforts to Make America Great Again.”
After President Joe Biden won the election last November, Women For America First sponsored a bus tour and other events dedicated to promoting former President Trump’s false claims of victory. This effort culminated in the massive rally on the Ellipse, which was hosted by Women For America First. At the rally, Trump gave a speech wherein he urged the audience to “fight like hell” and indicated that he expected them to march to the Capitol complex. Rioters began to breach the Capitol before Trump concluded his remarks. Large numbers of people marched from the Ellipse to the complex following his speech.
Kremer and her daughter, Kylie, who co-founded the group with her, are among a group of activists and former Trump administration officials who have been subpoenaed by the Select Committee in the past month. Kylie Kremer did not respond to a request for comment.
The committee is investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the election and the various rallies and events that focused the false conspiracy theories about his loss. In the September 29 announcement of the batch of subpoenas that included the Kremers, the committee specifically highlighted Women For America First.
“Women for America First (WFAF) organized the January 6th, 2021 rally on the Ellipse, rallies at Freedom Plaza on November 14th and December 12th, 2020, and two “March for Trump” nationwide bus tours that generated interest and attendance at the Washington rallies,” the statement said.
That announcement said the Kremers were due to provide documents by October 13 and a deposition on October 29. The committee did not respond to a request for comment, however, multiple members of the committee have said they will consider criminal contempt referrals against anyone who defies the subpoenas. Lawyers for former President Trump are fighting some of the requests for documents and testimony by citing executive privilege setting the stage for what Lawfare has dubbed a “consitutional conflict” in the courts.
Trump’s former adviser, Steve Bannon, refused a request to testify last Thursday. An attorney for Bannon, who was not on the White House staff as of January 6, said he was directed not to comply by Trump due to executive privilege. Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, responded with a statement announcing he will hold “a business meeting Tuesday evening to vote on adopting a contempt report.”
“Mr. Bannon has declined to cooperate with the Select Committee and is instead hiding behind the former President’s insufficient, blanket, and vague statements regarding privileges he has purported to invoke,” Thompson said. “We reject his position entirely. The Select Committee will not tolerate defiance of our subpoenas, so we must move forward with proceedings to refer Mr. Bannon for criminal contempt.”
Kremer’s text and the webpage for her “legal defense fund” did not specify whether she has begun complying with the subpoena. Her message called the subpoenas “absurd” and said they were “19-20 page subpoenas for Kylie and me.” The webpage said the committee “has requested THOUSANDS of documents from November 1, 2020 until now regarding our Stop The Steal rallies, March for Trump bus tours and our three massive DC rallies (11/14, 12/12 & 1/6), in addition to testifying before them.”
“The goal of the January 6th Committee has never been about ‘finding the truth,’ instead it is nothing more than a partisan show trial intended to intimidate, punish and silence political opponents,” the page said.
The webpage for the Women For America First “legal defense fund” indicates they hope to raise $200,000.
“This is a huge unexpected financial cost for Women for America First. The legal fees already incurred since being subpoenaed are enormous and as this plays out will be a fortune. $200,000 as our goal sounds like a lot... But this is going to be on the low end of our legal fees for Women for America First,” the page said.
As of Saturday night, the fund had raised $13,892.
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They are “not a wealthy family” because none of them do any actual real work that they deserve to be paid for. They are relying on others’ vulnerability and ignorance as a means to get by in life. Shameful.