More than $27M in Trump campaign fundraising went to legal costs in the last six months of 2023

The former president was indicted four times last year and has also had to answer civil lawsuits targeting his business and him as an individual.

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump’s affiliated committees spent about $27 million on lawyers’ bills and related legal fees in the last six months of 2023, new federal election filings show, bringing the total for a year that included four separate indictments to almost $50 million.

Trump’s political fundraising apparatus is sprawling, but the new filings show that the price of lawyers is weighing him down. Still, Trump, the GOP presidential front-runner, has seized on the legal cases against him as a potent fundraising tool, with his booking in a Georgia election case giving him what his campaign said was a record single-day haul.

Save America PAC, one of the groups Trump uses to raise money, spent $24.3 million on “legal consulting” in the last six months of 2023, according to federal election filings. That includes payments to firms that include lawyers like John Lauro, who is representing Trump in the case related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election; Todd Blanche, who also represents Trump in the New York hush money case; and Alina Habba, who represents Trump in the defamation case filed against him by author E. Jean Carroll and has appeared at his criminal arraignments.

While the Save America PAC raised $36 million over the last six months, $30 million came across six monthly payments from Make America Great Again Inc., a Trump-affiliated super PAC. While Save America helped provide early funding for MAGA Inc. when it launched at the beginning of Trump’s presidential bid, it appears that much of that money has been returned to Save America, which has been the primary vehicle for paying Trump’s legal fees. In the first six months of 2023, Save America PAC took more than $12 million from MAGA Inc.

Save America ended the year with just $5 million in cash banked away after having spent $35.2 million in total in the second half of 2023, almost as much as it raised.

On top of the legal spending from Save America, another Trump-affiliated group, the Make America Great Again PAC (which, under federal law, Trump raises money toward, and he can say how the money is used) spent $2.4 million on additional legal consulting in the second half of 2023.

Both groups also reimbursed another company, which handles campaign finance compliance and prepares disclosures for the campaign, millions more for legal fees. It was not clear whether those legal fees were associated with complying with federal campaign finance law or with investigations into Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election.

A fund to cover the legal fees for some of Trump’s aides raised more than $1.6 million from July to December, according to its filing. Known as the Patriot Legal Defense Fund, it does not contribute toward Trump’s legal expenses.

The filings show the brunt of the financial weight of Trump’s legal defense across four criminal cases, including two indictments related to his efforts to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss and one over his handling of classified documents after he left the White House. He also has been the subject of a civil fraud lawsuit in Manhattan related to his business.

Trump’s legal woes have also taken him off of the campaign trail and into courtrooms, monopolizing resources and diverting him with legal brawls.

Trump’s rival for the Republican nomination, Nikki Haley, has attacked Trump over his legal spending, posting on X this week, “He can’t beat Joe Biden if he’s spending all his time and money on court cases and chaos.”

Haley has continued to raise money despite early losses to Trump in Iowa and New Hampshire, even as he threatens to blacklist her donors.

Many posters have complained about donations going to Trump, are being spent on his legal expenses, and not going to his campaign....

They say that donations to his election, shouldn’t be spent on his legal expenses, because that’s not what they were donated for, and various statements along the lines that Trump should be paying for his legal fees out of his own pockets for the things he’s done....

As if he’s absolutely guilty of the charges being bought against him.

So, people can look at your posting history, and decide for themselves what your intent is.

So donations in support of Trump’s reelection are channeled elsewhere. If it were any one other than Trump, the posters here would be apoplectic. Moral relativism is one of the characteristics of True Believers.

Hey, Responsibility2nd, here’s one of your cohorts, proving the point in post 22.

So, people can look at your posting history, and decide for themselves what your intent is.

My intent is to shine the light of truth on all things Trump. Sorry if that offends you but being a bootlicker for Trump is not the mark of a true conservative.

Gee. FReepers here are GLAD to pay for the millions of dollars in legal fees. I guess they also don’t mind a measly quarter million also went to keep Melania looking pretty.

For what reason is any of that your concern never_Trumper?

Gee. FReepers here are GLAD to pay for the millions of dollars in legal fees. I guess they also don't mind a measly quarter million also went to keep Melania looking pretty.

“Hey dad, can I have some money to get a medical checkup?”

“Sure son, here's some money.” [hours later, the son returns]
“Son, how the checkup go?”
“With your kind contribution, I got Funyuns and beer instead of going to the doctor…thank you for your support.”

Boy, you’re sure taking this personally. Are you butt hurt that your donations went to attorneys?

Don’t be so angry there Angry Trumper. Look at the replies here on this thread that indicate the millions Trump is spending will only result in a win come November.

Don’t you want that? I do.

I don’t like it, but it is necessary.

I do however despise the abuse of the legal system and its laws.

If I had a quicker mind that could tolerate stress, I would have applied to go to law school 45 years ago.

There’s also the fact that the Klan was a bunch of racist nuts.

Trump represents most of hard-working America. Trump can simply name a replacement and the fight for the America we grew to love will continue.

So they attack him legally (lawfare)...and then complain about him spending $$ on legal costs...what a racket

Exactly!

Only leftists and obsessed, severe TDSers think this is something to “pin”, on Pres Trump.

God bless and keep dear Pres Trump. 🙏🏻

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