Associated Press: “Since its creation, the Lincoln Project has raised $90 million. But only about a third of the money, roughly $27 million, directly paid for advertisements that aired on broadcast and cable, or appeared online, during the 2020 campaign.”

“That leaves tens of millions of dollars that went toward expenses like production costs, overhead — and exorbitant consulting fees collected by members of the group.”

Also interesting: “Of the $90 million Lincoln Project has raised, more than $50 million has gone to firms controlled by the group’s leaders.”

Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg tweeted that he was launching a pillow company to compete against MyPillow, which is led by Trump supporter CEO Mike Lindell.

“President Trump’s private company filed a trademark application last week that suggested that it is starting a new line of business: organizing ‘telerallies’ for political campaigns,” the Washington Post reports.

“That could mark a shift in the company’s business model. Since Trump took office, his business has been paid millions by political campaigns, including Trump’s reelection effort. But it always remained one step away from politics: The company rented out ballrooms and office space to campaigns but did not market itself as a political company or offer services related to rallies or reaching voters.”

“The trademark application suggests that has changed. By filing it, trademark experts said, the company is saying it intends to enter this business soon.”

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s education company is giving away its educational booklets — such as “The Kids Guide to President Trump” — for free, or just $1 per item, in a “patriotic bundle” special, the HuffPost reports.

“But the offer is far from free. Parents across the country described a bait-and-switch scheme that they said duped them into signing up for $20-per-month subscriptions without their knowledge. Many said that Learn Our History ignored their repeated requests to cancel the subscriptions, leaving them locked into payments for products that they never wanted in the first place — all so their children can learn Huckabee’s version of history, which critics described as ‘pretend,’ ‘kiddie propaganda’ and ‘full of Christian nationalist revisionism and right-wing political propaganda.'”

“West Virginia appears poised to become the first state in the U.S. to allow gambling on politics, a move that would let people turn their Trump-versus-Biden predictions into cash,” Bloomberg reports.

“The West Virginia Lottery, which oversees betting in the state, said Tuesday that officials initially approved a plan to let FanDuel Inc. and other sportsbooks offer political wagers, but needed time ‘to fully work through the implications and research it further.'”

“Subpoenas issued to people with ties to President Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and his associates indicate a broad federal investigation into possible money laundering, obstruction of justice and campaign-finance violations, and suggest that prosecutors are looking closely at the work of Mr. Giuliani himself,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports the federal investigation into two associates of Giuliani “is exploring a wide range of potential crimes — including wire fraud and failure to register as a foreign agent — as prosecutors dig into the pair’s interactions with the president’s personal lawyer and the main pro-Trump super PAC.”

Politico: “What these grassroots supporters may not realize is that, in making small, repeated contributions, they have, in aggregate, delivered a huge payday for the middlemen, often large banks and financial institutions that process those payments.”

Politico: “Between 2012 and 2014, campaigns and political groups spent a combined $69,000 at Trump businesses… But since June 2015, when Trump announced he was running for the White House, political spending at the president’s properties has topped $19 million.”

Federal political committees have spent more than $20 million at businesses owned by President Trump since the 2008 cycle, according to OpenSecrets.

“Roughly 99% of that money has come since the start of the 2016 cycle, when Trump announced his bid for president and began spending campaign money at his own properties.”

Politico: “The effort centers around novelty merchandise items the reelection campaign has been hawking on its website, including ‘Pencil-Neck Adam Schiff’ T-shirts lampooning the Democratic congressman and Trump antagonist as a clown; ‘I Spy Trump’ tees and tanks depicting the commander-in-chief being snooped on by former President Barack Obama; and, most recently, the plastic straws. The Trump 2020 online store has marketed the offering as an alternative to the more environmentally-friendly ‘liberal paper straws’ that ‘don’t work.’”

“The straws (they are actually reusable and recyclable) have been a cash cow, generating more than $456,000 in sales since they first became available July 19, according to the campaign. That and other offerings have attracted scores of new donors to the Trump campaign, and helped the president build a massive early financial advantage over Democrats. Even Democrats who’ve savaged the president over his environmental record offered grudging respect for the straw maneuver.”

Axios: “Big Tech companies, including Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon, are all seen as leaning more Democratic, along with sports-linked brands like Nike, the NBA, and the NFL — while banks like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citi, are all seen as more Republican, along with some of the biggest corporate names like Walmart, GM, and Delta.”

“People of both parties — Democrats at 38%, Republicans at 35% — are just about as likely to boycott brands over their social beliefs, but their targets skew similarly partisan.”

“Last April, telecom giant T-Mobile announced a megadeal: a $26 billion merger with rival Sprint, which would more than double T-Mobile’s value and give it a huge new chunk of the cellphone market,” the Washington Post reports.

“But for T-Mobile, one hurdle remained: Its deal needed approval from the Trump administration.”

“The next day, in Washington, staffers at the Trump International Hotel were handed a list of incoming ‘VIP Arrivals.’ That day’s list included nine of T-Mobile’s top executives — including its chief operating officer, chief technology officer, chief strategy officer, chief financial officer and its outspoken celebrity chief executive, John Legere.”

“Bill and Hillary Clinton have been forced to resort to selling half price tickets for their 13-city tour on Groupon in a desperate bid to put bums on seats,” the Daily Mail reports.

“The former president and first lady launched their tour in a Canadian hockey arena last Tuesday to an underwhelming crowd and swaths of empty seats. Ticket prices were plummeting shortly before the event, with the cheapest seats selling on Stubhub for single-digits –  $6.55 Canadian Dollars, or less than $5.”