Trump insiders worried about cash crunch before primaries due to legal bills sucking up donations
Nearly 30 percent of money spent this year by campaign entities on behalf of former President Donald Trump have gone to legal expenses, reportedThe New York Times on Friday.
According to new financial reports analyzed by Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman, out of $90 million spent by these entities, including an independent super PAC Trump does not directly control, $27 million of it went to legal fees — including paying $1 million each to 8 law firms. This comes as the former president defends against three different indictments: a business fraud case in New York, the federal Mar-a-Lago Espionage Act and obstruction case in Florida, and the federal election 2020 coup case in Washington, D.C. Another indictment could be happening soon as Fulton County, Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis plans to seek over a dozen charges for multiple people in an election interference case in that state.
Furthermore, this is just for one portion of one year; an OpenSecrets analysis released this month suggests the total amount of donor money Trump has spent on legal fees is closer to $130 million.
According to the report questions are being raised "whether Mr. Trump will eventually need to dip into his own fortune to pay for his lawyers, his 2024 campaign or both," then adding, "It is a step that the famously tightfisted Mr. Trump has resisted taking, even as his advisers have begun planning behind the scenes for a potential political cash crunch months before the primaries begin."
All of this comes as ethical questions mount about these arrangements, including potential conflicts of interest in Trump-backed groups paying for legal representation for witnesses who could testify against him, and whether Trump's supporters even know how much of their money is going to keeping Trump's lawyers paid.
Per the Times, the Trump team is defiant in the face of questioning about their legal situation. “President Trump continues to be the campaign fund-raising leader due to the support from voters who recognize this as an illegal witch-hunt,” said Trump spokesman Steven Cheung. “As President Trump has said, he will spend whatever it takes to defeat the Deep State and Crooked Joe Biden.”
According to legal experts, however, Trump's legal expenses could rack up even more, leaving him at a disadvantage for campaigning.
“This is going to be an incredibly expensive proposition,” said criminal defense attorney Ben Brafman. “Not only is he now dealing with three separate jurisdictions, and nobody really knows which case is going to come first, but they all need to be investigated, researched and prepared at the same time by his attorneys.”
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