'A little dicey': Ethics experts raise eyebrows at latest Trump campaign spending tactics

Donors to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign are not only helping to pay his massive legal bills as he faces an onslaught of criminal charges but they are also helping prop up his businesses at a time when he is facing financial difficulties.

According to new campaign filings, reported on by USA Today's Zac Anderson and Erin Mansfield, four checks written between February and March went to Trump's Mar-a-Lago and Trump National Doral Miami for nearly a half million dollars from his joint campaign committee.

That has some ethics experts claiming the former president is pushing the envelope by enriching himself with donor cash.

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This is not something new, as the report notes that "the Trump campaign and affiliated political committees paid businesses owned by Trump at least $4.9 million since the start of 2023, according to an analysis by USA TODAY. Most of that money – $4.1 million – went to TAG Air, Inc. for air travel.

The report also added that "Trump's various campaign committees and a super PAC controlled by his supporters also spent at least $809,000 at his properties since the beginning of last year."

According to Columbia Law School's Richard Briffault, what Trump and his aides are doing may not be illegal, but it's "a little bit dicey."

"Nobody’s ever seen anything like it," Briffault said. "How much are they charging? And to what extent are they putting people up who might be staying someplace else that might be cheaper? You could imagine that there could be cheaper venues to these things, but they’re purposely holding them there.”

Shanna Ports, senior legal counsel with the Campaign Legal Center, agreed, telling USA Today: "When voters see something like this happening it contributes to their distrust of the political system and their elected officials' motives."

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