Rep. Devin Nunes’ campaign war chest topped $7 million in September after an aggressive third quarter fundraising haul of more than $2.5 million.

The California Republican has built a potent fundraising operation fueled mostly by small, grassroots donors. Nunes’ fundraising prowess coincided with his role as an outspoken defender of President Trump from his perch as the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee — first as chairman during the Russia investigation and now as ranking member amid the impeachment inquiry being driven by Democrats in the House of Representatives.

The Nunes campaign shared its key, top-line third quarter fundraising figures with the Washington Examiner. Exact figures were due to be filed with the Federal Election Commission no later than Tuesday.

Nunes won reelection by 5.4 percentage points last year in his Republican-leaning, Central Valley district after spending all but $1 million of the whopping $12.7 million he raised for the midterm elections. Stockpiling more than $7 million for 2020 a year before the election should position Nunes to survive another tough reelection battle.

Nunes launched his reinvigorated fundraising operation in spring 2018, after the House Intelligence Committee completed its own investigation into whether Trump conspired with Russia to defeat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in 2016. The program focused on harvesting small contributions from grassroots conservatives supportive of Trump, appealing to them online and via direct mail.

The effort took off, raising around $5 million in the second quarter of the midterm election year.

Nunes, always a prodigious fundraiser, has been raking in money at an accelerated clip ever since. The congressman has put some of his campaign cash to work for his Republican colleagues, too, signing fundraising appeals and headlining fundraising events. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, of California, said that no member of the GOP conference has worked harder than Nunes to help the team.

“Devin has always been that individual that makes sure the conservative cause moves forward,” McCarthy said in a brief interview.

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