MAGA Inc.

MAGA Inc. or "Make America Great Again Inc." (founded September 23, 2022) is an American Super PAC that supports former US president Donald Trump. As a Super PAC it can raise unlimited money for campaigns and spend it freely to support Trump but it is barred from coordinating directly with presidential campaigns.

History

2022

A Statement of Organization was filed with the Federal Election Commission on September 23, 2022, for Make America Great Again Inc. as an independent expenditure-only political committee ( Super PAC) that is supporting former US president Donald Trump, and is located in Alexandria, Virginia.

Distinct from Trump's existing Save America leadership PAC which had served as his chief fundraising vehicle, as a Super PAC it can raise unlimited money for campaigns and spend it freely to support him. But it is barred from coordinating directly with campaigns.

Taylor Budowich, a 26-year-old former aide of Trump, was named the group's executive director. In June 2023, Budowich testified before a federal grand jury in Miami as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.

Other staff of the Super PAC are former Trump campaign aide Steven Cheung (communications director; who worked on Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns, is a former White House assistant communications director, and a former Ultimate Fighting Championship communications executive), longtime Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio (running polling operations); veteran GOP operative Chris LaCivita (chief strategist; former Swift Vets lead operator); and Sergio Gor (former campaign adviser and the publisher of Trump's post-presidential book ''A Journey Together'', as a senior adviser). Karoline Leavitt, who ran for New Hampshire's 1st District l in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in New Hampshire, is the spokeswoman for MAGA Inc. Alex Pfeiffer, a former producer for Fox News’ Tucker Carlson, will also join the operation.

In October 2022, Save America transferred $20 million to MAGA Inc. In November 2022, the campaign finance watchdog Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging that the transfer was inappropriate inasmuch as Trump was already a presidential candidate when he made the transfer. In May 2023, NRDC Action Fund affiliated Super-PAC, NRDC Action Votes, joined CLC in a supplemental complaint alleging that former Trump and Save America violated the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), specifically, the provisions that prohibit federal election candidates from utilizing “soft money", which refers to money that is not adherent to contribution limits, source prohibitions, or reporting requirements for election candidates.

Also that month, businessman Timothy Mellon contributed $1.5 million to MAGA Inc. Businessman Andrew Beal donated $500,000 to the Super PAC.

Trump's Save America PAC transferred $60 million to MAGA Inc in 2022. MAGA Inc. reported $54 million in cash on hand at the end of 2022. MAGA Inc. spent money opposing some political candidates in 2022 (most notably $3.4 million opposing Raphael Warnock who won, 3.4 million opposing John Fetterman who won, and $3.0 million opposing Mark Kelly who won), and supporting some other political candidates (most notably $0.7 million supporting Blake Masters who lost, $0.09 million supporting Adam Laxalt who lost, and $0.08 supporting Mehmet Oz who lost).

2023

In June 2023, MAGA Inc filed a 15-page complaint with the Florida Commission on Ethics accusing Florida governor Ron DeSantis of violating federal and state campaign finance and ethics rules by running a shadow campaign for president.

By June 30, 2023, MAGA Inc had spent more than $23 million in 2023, almost entirely on ads attacking Ron DeSantis.

In July 2023, Alina Habba joined the PAC as legal spokesperson and general counsel.

MAGA Inc. gave back more than $12 million to Trump's Save America PAC in the first half of 2023, after Save America requested a refund; that accounted for one-third of MAGA Inc.’s spending over that time period. It spent $22 million on buying TV ads in support of Trump. MAGA Inc. spent more than it raised in the first six months of the year, raising $14.6 million. It reported $30.8 million in its account as of June 30; at the same time, the PAC of Ron DeSantis had $96.8 million in cash on hand, and the PAC of Nikki Haley had $17.1 million in cash on hand.

Its top donors over the first six months of 2023 were Scientologist Patricia Duggan ($5 million) and casino owner Phil Ruffin ($2 million). Woody Johnson (U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom under Trump) and Charles Kushner (Trump's son-in-law's father, whom Trump pardoned) both gave $1 million.

2024

On May 31, 2024, Timothy Mellon, a billionaire banking heir, gave $50 million to the PAC.

See also

*Great America PAC
*Make America Great Again

References

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Conservative political advocacy groups in the United States
Lobbying organizations in the United States
Organizations based in Alexandria, Virginia
Political career of Donald Trump
Political organizations
Trumpism
United States political action committees
2022 establishments in Virginia