Donald Trump spent over $50 million in PAC donor money on legal fees in 2023. The vast majority went to firms working on his personal legal problems.
  • Donald Trump spent $52,431,858 on legal fees in 2023 using PAC funds, a Business Insider analysis found.
  • The vast majority — nearly $40 million — went to law firms working on his personal legal problems.
  • Trump spent this small fortune in donor money on his legal fees despite being a billionaire.

Former President Donald Trump has a lot of legal problems.

So do his company and three eldest children.

Often, political donors are footing the bill.

A Business Insider analysis has found that Trump supporters funded at least $52,431,858 in legal services in 2023 through two political action committees the GOP frontrunner controls.

Nearly $40 million of the $52.4 million in donor money was spent on law firms working on cases that had nothing to do with Trump’s candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, the analysis found.

The legions of MAGA faithful may not have been aware of this when they parted with their small-dollar donations last year, galvanized by Trump’s cries of “witch hunt” as he was indicted in a New York hush-money scheme in April and a Georgia election-interference case in August.

But significant portions of their donations went to law firms defending Trump in civil cases involving his real-estate empire and its top executives, including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump.

  • TransplantedSconie@lemm.ee
    1061·
    9 months ago

    Use it all you fat fuck. Use it all and leave Republicans with nothing to spend on ads. They already have nothing to campaign on policy wise. Might as well use all their money, too.

    • rdyoung@lemmy.world
      67·
      9 months ago

      They are going broke across the country. Trump has been sucking up all of the donations and then spending on legal bills. He is going to be the end of the party and I’ll be watching with glee.

      • iamjackflack@lemm.ee
        36·
        9 months ago

        Would be nice if that would play out. Too bad his stupid base will just open their wallets to every cry for financial help because they are all brainwashed.

        • rdyoung@lemmy.world
          171·
          9 months ago

          There is only so much they can give. Eventually his core base (the ones more likely to be on gov assistance) will run out of money. Eventually the puppeteers pulling his strings will stop funding him.

          I’m not really a betting man but I would wager a decent sum that assuming the states and the feds keep up their investigations into the maggats, trump will be what takes that entire party down.

            • rdyoung@lemmy.world
              34·
              9 months ago

              Do you know anything about finances/economics? Eventually they will run out of money. I’d bet in aggregate trump gets more money from the real players than individuals. Politicians (on both sides) have used fake supporters to funnel money into their campaigns for a very long time.

          • jaybone@lemmy.world
            2·
            9 months ago

            Aren’t his PAC donors like corporations and Russian money launderers, not some yokels on government assistance?

            • LilDumpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              4·
              9 months ago

              Ya, for 50+ million. That’s not a bunch of grandparents donating $50. That amount is like other countries, corporations and the rich friends with their interests in mind. And if he’s cozy with Saudi or other rich countries, the pot might not necessarily have a bottom for all intents and purposes of this voting year.

              I mean, ya it’s also grandparents and stuff… but I cannot see that the vast majority of that money coming from them.

              • skuzz
                6·
                9 months ago

                A one time $50 donation from 1,000,000 magats = $50 million. Given there are so many stories of magats donating their property, retirement funds, and every dime they have, and also that there are 38.8 million registered magats in the US (https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/registered-voters-by-party).

                I’d not be surprised if they are almost entirely driving this, and also themselves into homelessness.

                • LilDumpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  9 months ago

                  Ya, that math checks out, but man, I really hope not. I tried looking super quick (at work rn) and I didn’t immediately see any reporting stating people gave their houses, etc. Although I did quickly read PAC and Super PAC rules and the PAC rules are pretty tight on capping donations, and the Super PAC rules state that all donors need to be reported. So I am sure someone can find out where it’s really coming from.

      • Rakonat@lemmy.worldEnglish
        12·
        9 months ago

        If hes allowed to be on the ballot in November and not a cent spent on adverts I guarantee he still gets 60 million votes. Probably more.

        • rdyoung@lemmy.world
          1·
          9 months ago

          I said nothing about trumps campaign. Trump better not win but his fund raising being used for lawyers is going to help us take back seats from them when they don’t have the money to advertise properly leading up to November. We already flipped Desantos seat. How many more are coming? Even if trump wins, if we can get enough control elsewhere we can minimize (but not prevent) more damage from him. Even better if we take back control and keep the Whitehouse, maybe we can actually get shit done.