Eric Trump and a lawyer who defended his father, former President Donald Trump, are scheduled to headline a fundraiser in Temecula for a local conservative political action committee focused on electing like-minded people to Inland Empire school boards.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin also is expected to speak at the Inland Empire Family PAC fundraiser, set for Wednesday, May 22, at the Temecula Stampede country music venue.
So is Kash Patel, who served in the Trump White House, and Alina Habba, an attorney who represented Donald Trump in court.
“The entire Trump family understands the need for patriotic Americans to get involved in the election process,” PAC founder and 412 Church Temecula Valley Pastor Tim Thompson said via email.
“Our hope is Eric Trump will inspire the Temecula Valley and beyond to engage in a powerful way.”
The Riverside County Democratic Party chairperson assailed the event.
“This fundraiser clearly shows how, and by whom, big money is being raised in the Inland Empire by the executors aiding the creation of a dictatorship under the guise of ‘Family Values,’” Joy Silver said via email.
A protest is scheduled to take place outside the fundraiser. “Let’s show Tim Thompson and the Trump Crime Family that their brand of fascism isn’t welcome here in our school districts!” an online ad for the demonstration states.
Amy McKenzie, a Hestrin spokesperson, said via email that Hestrin, a Republican, “has been invited to speak at the event to address criminal justice issues in California.”
In February, Habba attended an event at a Temecula-area equestrian facility for Our Watch, a Thompson-led organization that posts his commentaries and interviews with conservative activists and lawmakers on social media.
Habba “offered to connect us with her family friend, Eric Trump,” Thompson said. “We gratefully accepted that offer.”
Eric Trump’s wife, Lara, is co-chairperson of the Republican National Committee.
Ticket prices for the fundraiser range from $200 for general admission to $1,000 for VIP seating and a meet-and-greet with Trump. Thompson said he hopes the event raises more than $100,000. As of Tuesday, May 14, tickets are still available, he said.
Habba frequently appears on cable news to praise the former president and blast efforts to prosecute Trump, who faces roughly 90 criminal charges in four separate cases.
While she is celebrated in conservative circles, the judge in Trump’s defamation trial scolded Habba in court — at one point threatening to throw her in jail after she interrupted him.
The plaintiff in that case, E. Jean Carroll, alleged Trump defamed her after a jury found him civilly liable for sexually abusing her in the 1990s. Trump was eventually ordered to pay Carroll $83.3 million.
Patel served in various capacities in the Trump administration, including chief of staff in the Department of Defense and a counterterrorism adviser on the National Security Council.
In December, Patel said on fellow Trump ally Steve Bannon’s podcast that if Trump returns to the White House, “conspirators” in the media and government would be targeted — “We’re going to come after you whether it’s criminally or civilly,” he added.
Thompson’s PAC supported a 2022 effort that tried to elect seven Christian conservatives to school boards in Temecula, Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.
PAC-endorsed candidates campaigned on a platform of restoring parents’ rights and ridding schools of “indoctrination.” Five of the seven candidates won seats in 2022, including a majority on the Temecula Valley Unified School District board.
Once elected, the three Temecula conservatives banned the teaching of so-called critical race theory, feuded with Gov. Gavin Newsom over curriculum that indirectly referenced LGBTQ leader Harvey Milk and required parents to be told if their child identifies as transgender, among other controversial actions.
Critics say the conservatives, one of whom has since resigned, want to impose a Christian nationalist agenda while ignoring pressing student needs. A recall election of one of the conservatives, board President Joseph Komrosky, will take place June 4.
While defeating the Komrosky recall “is a top priority for us … the IE Family PAC continues to vet possible candidates for school board seats across the Inland Empire and will be announcing our endorsed candidates at a date to be determined,” Thompson said.
“We focus solely on school board races as parental rights and the safety of our children are our main passion.”
The fundraiser “is yet another blatant example of the IE Family PAC’s mission to corrupt local nonpartisan school board seats with partisan politics and culture wars in an attempt to dismantle public education,” Jeff Pack, co-founder of One Temecula Valley PAC, which is spearheading the recall, said via email.
“ … IE Family PAC’s supported elected officials and candidates are singularly focused on indoctrinating our students religiously and politically. We find that shameful and antithetical to the American public education system.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct an error. The Democrats of Southwest Riverside County club is not organizing a protest scheduled to take place outside the Wednesday, May 22, fundraiser.
