RNC at 'high risk' of breaking the law by paying Trump's legal bills: expert

Even if the Republican National Committee was flush with cash — which it is not — there is only so much it can do to bail Donald Trump out of his legal predicament when it comes to funneling cash to him.

With the imminent departure of chair Ronna McDaniel and plans by the former president to load the leadership up with MAGA loyalists like his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, concerns have been raised by Republicans that the RNC would become another cash cow for the embattled ex-president while ignoring GOP officeholders going into the November election.

According to a report from Politico's Erica Orden, election finance experts are serving notice to the RNC to tread carefully when it comes to paying Trump's bills.

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With the RNC having a scant $8.7 million in the bank at the end of January, Orden pointed out that it would barely cover Trump's legal bills — with nothing left over to help with the half billion he owes in damages after losing a financial fraud trial overseen by Judge Arthur Engoron and two civil judgments in cases brought by New York writer E. Jean Carroll.

That has led to a "nightmare" scenario for the ex-president, according to CNN.

As one attorney explained, helping Trump pay his lawyers is unusual but within the bounds of the Federal Election Campaign Act — as long as he is not yet the official candidate for office — but that will come to an end and then no funds can be allocated to help him pay off his penalty debt.

As Stetson University Law School Professor Ciara Torres-Spelliscy explained, the RNC would face a “high risk” of violating campaign finance laws by helping pay Trump and the Trump Org's financial penalties.

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“That cost was generated by his running the Trump Org fraudulently,” she explained. “That has nothing to do with him being a candidate or an office holder.”

Beyond that, the Politico report notes, the RNC just doesn't have the money to fight on multiple fronts.

"Lara Trump has set a goal of raising $500 million, and even if it were successful in doing so, directing some or all of those funds toward the former president would quickly diminish the party’s ability to pay for anything else, including the presidential election or congressional races," Orden reported.

You can read more here.