Trump biographer raises questions about his wealth as campaign donors foot the bill for his many lawyers
Former President Donald Trumpās PACs have spent about $50 million in donor money on his legal bills last year, sources told The New York Times.
The āstaggering sumā spent by Trump on his legal fees and investigation-related expenses is about the same amount his lone remaining GOP primary opponent Nikki Haley raised across all her committees last year, the Timesā Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher write. Federal Election Commission filings this week are expected to detail the full extent of Trumpās āenormous financial strain,ā they added.
Trump, who has a penchant for relying on campaign donations to pay his lawyers if he actually pays them at all, has used his Save America PAC to cover his legal costs. When the PAC ran low on cash last year, Trump asked for an unusual refund of $60 million that had been transferred to the pro-Trump MAGA Inc. PAC. Trump has also been directing 10% of donations raised through Save America to a PAC that primarily pays his lawyers, according to the Times.
Why is it even legal for them to spend political donations on legal expenses completely unrelated to politics. Itās a stretch, but I can almost see it for the January 6th or maybe even the documents cases, because theyāre at least related to his political career.
But sexual assault, defamation, and fraud cases definitely shouldnāt count. Theyāre cases related to actions he took prior to entering politics.
Letās create a hypothetical candidate that has followed a blameless, honest (moneyless) path. His/her opponents decide to take that candidate down with frivolous lawsuits. How else can they be defended?
Thatās a SLAPP issue, not a campaign finance one, and a perfect example of why we need federal ant-SLAPP laws.
Agreed. Iām just saying campaign finances could be one solution to SLAPP lawsuit problems.
To be clear, Trumpās are not SLAPP related.