Page:Final Report of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol.pdf/558

 Fancelli worked with Wren to create a multimillion-dollar budget to convene as many supporters of President Trump as possible. To ensure that Fancelli's dollars made maximum impact, Wren contacted some of the major players who were rallying supporters for January 6th. Wren emailed Kylie Kremer and exchanged texts with Jones and Chafian. Fancelli's goal was clear: she wanted to spend $3 million to "get as many people there as possible." The resulting budget allocated $500,000 to a busing program and a centralized ad campaign by the Tea Party Express to promote the event. Another $500,000 went to assisting WFAF and Jones in their organizational efforts.

Caroline Wren also connected with Ali Alexander. On December 29th, Wren told the Stop the Steal leader, "I can pay for the buses and I have my team looking for available companies, so let me know what cities you need them in!" Wren's offer came in response to a tweet from Alexander earlier that day: "Coalition of us working on 25 new charter buses to bring people FOR FREE to #JAN6 #STOPTHESTEAL for President Trump. If you have money for more buses or have a company, let me know. We will list our buses sometime in the next 72 hours. STAND BACK & STAND BY!"

The final words of Alexander's tweet directly echoed President Trump's command to the Proud Boys during the September 29, 2020, presidential debate. Alexander's word choice was apt. The Proud Boys were already planning to show up in force, and to ensure that the crowd would be "wild."

On the evening of December 27th, President Trump boosted the upcoming event on Twitter: "See you in Washington, DC, on January 6th. Don't miss it. Information to follow!" The Select Committee learned that this tweet came after the White House spoke with a former Trump staffer, Justin Caporale, who was asked to help produce the Ellipse rally. That same evening, the President had dinner with Donald Trump, Jr., and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle, who spoke with rally organizer Caroline Wren during the meal. Wren also texted Guilfoyle talking points that described her ambitions for the event, saying that "buses of people are coming in from all over the country to support you. It's going to be huge, we are also adding in programming the night of January 5th."

After Guilfoyle's call with Wren, there was a series of calls among the senior White House staff, likely underscoring the seriousness of the White House's interest in the event.