The former president’s PAC are operating as slush funds to help him fight off a mountain of civil and criminal cases
Donald Trump’s PACs spent a staggering $50 million on the former president’s legal defense in 2023, according to a report from The New York Times.
According to two sources who spoke to the Times, the former president’s massive legal bills were paid out through funds from the Save America PAC and the Make America Great Again PAC, his two primary political action committees. The full details of the PAC spending will be made available Wednesday, the deadline for Federal Election Commission year-end campaign filings.
Given the multiple civil and criminal cases leveled against Trump in the last year, the mountain of legal bills is not necessarily a surprise. In August of last year, Save America revealed that it had burned through the majority of its cash-on-hand on Trump and his associates’ legal defenses. The Times reported at the time that Save America had requested a $60 million refund from another Trump-affiliated group to keep itself afloat.
According to the Times, 10 cents of every dollar donated to Trump’s campaign is being directed towards Save America, which in the last year has operated virtually exclusively as a legal slush fund for the former president.
And this sum will only get bigger. Good. For one, it clearly shows what a fraud he really is. And as a bonimus, every cent of his campaign he has to waste on legal troubles is a cent less to spend on campaigning.
Good other than it implies people are still giving him money. I wish someone else would con them out of it for better reasons, like buying a sports car or hiring an actor for a day to tell them, “that’s a great idea!” after anything they say.
Paying lawyers willing to defend Trump in court is a horrible use for money.