Trump has been 'quietly diverting' money away from his 2024 re-election campaign: report

A slight change in the small print in Donald Trump's online disclosures reveals an increase in the money contributors have been donating to help him win the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination is being shifted to help to pay his legal bills.

According to a report from the New York Times, the diversion of funds raises questions about the cash crunch the former president is facing with multiple indictments at the state and federal level with more expected to come.

As the Times' Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher wrote, the "diversion" of campaign cash to his Save America PAC -- which is helping to pay his legal bills among other expenses -- was done with little fanfare.

The report states, "When Mr. Trump kicked off his 2024 campaign in November, for every dollar raised online, 99 cents went to his campaign, and a penny went to Save America," before adding, "But internet archival records show that sometime in February or March, he adjusted that split. Now his campaign’s share has been reduced to 90 percent of donations, and 10 percent goes to Save America."

According to the report, that has meant that approximately $1.5 million was skimmed off to help with his legal woes that could have been used to boost his election prospects.

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The report adds, "Save America technically owns the list of email addresses and phone numbers of his supporters — one of the former president’s most valuable assets — and the campaign is effectively paying the PAC for access to that list," according to Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung who refused to go into details about the financial maneuvering.

The Times is also reporting that there appears to be a cash drain at the PAC as legal fees suck up cash.

"For more than a year, before Mr. Trump was a 2024 candidate, Save America has been paying for bills related to various investigations into the former president and his allies. In February 2022, the PAC announced that it had $122 million in its coffers," the Times is reporting. "By the beginning of 2023, the PAC’s cash on hand was down to $18 million, filings show. The rest had been spent on staff salaries, on the costs of Mr. Trump’s political activities last year — including some spending on other candidates and groups — and in other ways. That included the $60 million that was transferred to MAGA Inc., a super PAC that is supporting Mr. Trump. And more than $16 million went to pay legal bills."

You can read more here.