Washington, D.C. If he and the party
can match their fundraising totals from four years ago, Donald Trump's new
plan, which has been paying his legal bills, will allow his personal committee
to siphon off nearly $32 million from big donors that would have otherwise gone
to the Republican Party.
All $396 million that the coup-attempting former president and the GOP raised
from large check writers went to the RNC, Trump's campaign, and a number of
state parties in the 2020 election.
On this occasion, however, the
"Trump 47" joint committee places Trump's "Save America"
leadership PAC—basically a slush fund that he has utilized to pay attorneys
defending him against criminal and civil charges—second in line for funding.
The remaining $5,000 is donated to Save America, with the first $6,600 going to
Trump's campaign. An amount less than $11,600 is when the RNC receives its
first penny. According to a HuffPost analysis of Federal Election Commission
filings, had that arrangement been in place in 2020, $31.8 million that would
have gone to the RNC and state parties instead would have ended up in Trump's
personal fund.
Because of her previous position as
the head of the Republican Party of New Hampshire, Jennifer Horn was formerly a
member of the RNC. She claimed that the organization has turned into a vehicle
for the most dishonest president in history to launder money. It appears that
neither the campaign nor the funders are concerned. Longtime GOP adviser David
Kochel stated, "I believe that more and more people view the legal
challenges as a part of the campaign." "He needs to oppose the Biden
campaign and the 'lawfare'."
When HuffPost asked how much of the combined fundraising effort will go toward
helping Trump with his personal issues rather than helping the party win
elections, the Trump campaign did not reply. Early this month, Chris LaCivita,
a top Trump campaign staffer who currently oversees the RNC's daily operations,
declared that the party will not be covering Trump's legal expenses. Hardly two
weeks later, though, an invitation to the inaugural joint fundraiser that
accomplishes precisely that was sent to HuffPost and other press outlets.
While some of the organization's existing members privately complained about
having to cover Trump's legal costs, others supported it. Richard Porter, an
Illinois member, stated, "A donor can give directly to the campaign, or
directly to the RNC and so forth." "Donors who would rather write a
single check find it easier with these vehicles."
"The secret is sincere
transparency. Individuals will be able to make well-informed choices concerning
the recipients of their donations. Many people consider President Trump's legal
issues to be politicized. Jim Dicke of Ohio continued, "It has probably
even increased his following and many do want to direct funding to help his
defense against what seem like unfair charges."
The precise amount that the joint fundraising deal will benefit Trump's
personal slush fund will depend on how many individual donors pay Trump 47 at
least $6,600. The "Trump Victory" joint fundraising committee raised
$27,650 during the 2020 election campaign. Twenty-seven56 of those were less
than $6,600, which means that if they were given to Trump 47 today, the money
would go only to his campaign.
According to a HuffPost analysis,
1,482 more donations ranged from $6,600 to $11,600, which, if made today, would
generate $4,739,184 for Trump's Save America campaign. Additionally, the final
5,414 gifts totaled more than $11,600. If these donations were made today, Save
America would get $27,070,000.
The owners of "leadership PACs" are effectively free to spend the
money anyway they like, despite the fact that it was supposedly raised for
political reasons due to the lax regulations governing them. Trump paid his
several attorneys $54.2 million from Save America in 2023. Even though the RNC
can endorse wealthy donors, Trump may be able to raise more than twice as much
from his millions of fans, many of whom are retirees, who send him $5, $20, or
$50 in response to his ceaseless barrage of text and email requests.
Trump raised $732.6 million from these army of small-dollar donors in 2020
alone. In fact, he received roughly $250 million of that after losing the
election in November and telling his supporters he would need additional funds
to challenge the outcome in court. Assuming that Trump's supporters give him
the same amount they did four years prior, $73 million would be available for
his personal use in 2024 if the present allocation formula holds true, with 90
cents of every dollar received going into his campaign and 10 cents going
toward Save America. If he changes the system such that his slush fund receives
a higher portion of every dollar, he may likewise raise the amount coming to
it.
"This would be a much bigger problem with donors if we didn't live in 'the
upside down,'" Kochel stated. To defend his acts in court, Trump has
become dependent on a wide array of attorneys in recent years. The state
attorney general of New York filed a fraud lawsuit against Trump, citing his
decades-long practice of inflating the worth of his properties to obtain
favorable conditions from lenders and insurers. He is currently contesting the
$464 million judgment after losing the case.
In addition, he is being prosecuted in four other states for crimes; two of
these are related to his conduct before and on January 6, 2021, when a crowd of
his supporters stormed the US Capitol building in an effort to reinstall him as
president. In late August, a federal indictment may be brought to trial,
contingent upon the date of the Supreme Court's decision regarding his defense
of immunity from prosecution. Later this year, a state prosecution in Georgia
may also begin, stemming from his attempt to get his election loss in that
state overturned.
A second federal prosecution stemming from his refusal to turn over classified
documents he carried from the White House to his South Florida country club has
not yet been scheduled for trial. A New York state prosecution on allegations
that he fabricated business records to conceal hush money payments in the final
days of the 2016 election may begin as early as next month.
A New York jury in 2023 concluded
that Trump was civilly liable for sexual abuse after concluding that he had
forcefully raped writer E. Jean Carroll during a 1990s incident. Later on in
the case, the federal judge made it clear that Trump had committed rape in the
sense of the "common modern parlance." In addition, he is challenging
the $88 million judgment resulting from that verdict.
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