'If he bails, the party’s over': The GOP is stuck in an 'unholy alliance' with Trump

In her column for the Daily Beast, longtime political observer Eleanor Clift asserted that former president Donald Trump has the Republican Party over a barrel because they are dependent on his popularity with his rabid base of supporters whose departure could lead to the GOP ceasing to exist as the major party it is now.

Noting that the Republican National Committee is picking up the tab for a substantial amount of the embattled president's legal fees -- even some that have nothing to do with his four years in office -- Cliff said there is no law against it, but that the RNC also realizes it has no choice.

Writing, "There should be a law against such an obvious conflict of interest, but there isn’t, even though the Federal Election Commission for years has urged Congress to extend the 'personal use ban' to funds received from the party committees," the columnist added, "The former president is exploiting the weakness in the law to suit his needs. After an initial dust-up over the RNC paying his lawyers, Trump threatened to bail on the GOP, hinting he might form a third party. That sent RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Romney to the ramparts. Without Trump, there is no party. Paying his attorneys is the fealty that the Boss requires."

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According to investigative journalist David Cay Johnston, who spoke with Clift, Trump employs an old gangster-style threat that bad things could happen if he doesn't get his way.

"Donald is a master at figuring out how to make it in your interest to solve his problem,” Johnston -- who has written extensively on Trump -- explained. "If Donald ran as an independent, that sinks the party. They have to keep Donald inside the tent because if he bails, the party’s over.”

According to Clift, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone who has watched Trump over the years.

As Norm Eisen, an expert on government ethics explained, "His single greatest skill is his ability to skate at the edge of the law without falling off the edge,” before suggesting, “That extraordinary genius for illegality is about to break."

On that point, Clift added, "Compared to all the legal challenges Trump is facing, having the RNC pay his bills may seem insignificant. But this kind of self-indulgence should rankle party donors."

"The unholy alliance between Trump and the RNC will continue as long as Trump is essential to the GOP, or until Trump’s legal problems overwhelm what the RNC is able to do without implicating itself in his defense," she suggested before adding, "Saying Trump must do anything is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. The former president has spent a lifetime defying rules and, for the most part, getting away with it. That winning streak may be coming to an end, but we’re not there yet."

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