Kimberly Guilfoyle claimed in text messages on Jan. 4 that she raised $3 million for Trump's Jan. 6 rally, ProPublica reported.- Guilfoyle's attorney denied that Guilfoyle fundraised for the event.
Kimberly Guilfoyle, a fundraiser for former President
Guilfoyle, who is dating Donald Trump Jr., wrote the messages to Katrina Pierson, a White House official who served as a liaison to the rally, and also voiced her support for the addition of other far-right speakers to the on-stage line-up. Guilfoyle told Pierson in the texts that she wanted to introduce Trump Jr. at the "Stop the Steal" rally, insisting that she had "raised so much money for this." Guilfoyle claimed that one of her donors had bankrolled the event.
"Literally one of my donors Julie at 3 million," she wrote, referring to Julie Jenkins Fancelli, a Trump megadonor and heir to the Publix supermarket chain.
Pierson replied that only the president was in control of who spoke at the event, according to the texts, which ProPublica reviewed. Guilfoyle ended up speaking on stage before Trump Jr. on Jan. 6 and told the crowd of Trump loyalists, "We will not allow the liberals and the Democrats to steal our dream or steal our elections."
ProPublica and other outlets have previously reported that Caroline Wren, who reported to Guilfoyle at the Trump Victory finance committee, claimed to raise $3 million for the event. But the specific total amount of money actually raised for the Jan. 6 events is not known. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Jan. 6 rally cost about $500,000 and that about $300,000 of Fancelli's donations were used to pay for it.
An attorney for Guilfoyle, Joe Tacopina, told ProPublica that his client did not fundraise or approve speakers for the Jan. 6 rally and claimed that Guilfoyle's text messages were "inaccurate" and "taken out of context." Pierson declined to comment to ProPublica.
Wren also did not clarify whether Guilfoyle helped raise money for the rally.
"To Ms. Wren's knowledge, Kimberly Guilfoyle had no involvement in raising funds for any events on January 6th," Wren said in a statement to ProPublica. "They were both present at a peaceful rally with hundreds of thousands of Americans who were in DC to lawfully exercise their first amendment rights, a primary pillar of American democracy."
The House select committee investigating the Capitol riot has subpoenaed more than 30 members of Trump world. Both Pierson and Wren have been subpoenaed, but Guilfoyle has not been.