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Attorneys for former President Donald Trump sent letters on Friday to the Republican National Committee and the other leading GOP organizations ordering them to stop using his name and image on fundraising emails and merchandise without his express permission.
The cease and desist notices were also sent to the National Republican Congressional Committee and the National Republican Senate Committee, Politico first reported. The startling demand from a former president to his own party underscores the fractured nature of the Republican Party.
Trump is reportedly furious that his name has or could be used to support Republicans who voted to impeach him. Ten GOP House members voted for impeachment, and seven GOP senators voted to convict him of inciting the violent Capitol attack on Jan 6.
None of the GOP organizations have commented on the cease and desist orders. Sources told Politico that Trump has to be more generous if he hopes to increase his party’s power — but that seems to be less of a concern for Trump than bolstering his own image. Even before he was president, he was keenly aware of the value of his name: A key source of income for the Trump Organization has been licensing its name for buildings and products.
Just as the orders were apparently arriving on Friday, the RNC was emailing supporters, asking them to donate in order to add their names to an official “thank you card” for Trump.
In an earlier sign of working at cross purposes from his own party, Trump last month endorsed a Republican primary challenger to Ohio Rep. Anthony Gonzalez. Gonzalez voted for impeachment.
Gonzalez said at the time that Trump helped “organize and incite a mob that attacked” Congress in an “attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties” under the Constitution. “In doing so, five people have died … and our democracy has been shaken.”
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