Sources: Guilfoyle's $60K Jan. 6 Fee Paid by Charlie Kirk's Group

Publix heiress reportedly ponied up cash used for Guilfoyle's speech to Turning Point Action
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 15, 2022 7:45 AM CDT
Sources: Guilfoyle's $60K Jan. 6 Fee Paid by Charlie Kirk's Group
Kimberly Guilfoyle speaks on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington, at a rally in support of then-President Trump.   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

Kimberly Guilfoyle was indeed paid $60,000 for her speech introducing fiance Donald Trump Jr. at Jan. 6's "Stop the Steal" rally, as claimed by a member of the House committee leading the hearings about the Capitol riot—but that money apparently didn't come from the Trump campaign or his Save America PAC. Instead, sources tell CNN she was paid through Turning Point Action, a conservative nonprofit run by Trump Jr. pal Charlie Kirk, with the specific donor whose money was used for Guilfoyle's payment named as Julie Jenkins Fancelli, the daughter of the founder of the Publix supermarket chain. Fancelli is described by the Washington Post as a longtime GOP donor who "has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates and party organizations over the past two decades."

After the select committee's hearing on Monday, Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, a member of the panel, told CNN about the payment to Guilfoyle and said the committee had evidence that members of Trump's family and others in his camp had personally gained from money raised off of former President Trump's false stolen-election claims. On Tuesday, after the new revelations about Turning Point Action's role in paying Guilfoyle's fee, Lofgren said she hadn't misspoken during her earlier statements, in which she'd said that more than $250 million had been raised for a supposed "election defense fund" for Trump.

In her update, Lofgren told CNN that the money still came from a group tied to Trump. "The question is, are Trump individuals benefiting from this whole enterprise of raising money around the so-called 'Stop the Steal,'" Lofgren noted. "And the answer is yes." The night before, the news outlet had asked committee Chair Bennie Thompson to clarify whether Guilfoyle had been paid using "Stop the Steal" funds. He noted, "I did not say that," adding Guilfoyle's fee "was strictly paid out of expenditures that came from people who came to the 'Stop the Steal' rally." (More Kimberly Guilfoyle stories.)

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