All posts tagged "Legal Defense Fund"

Former President Donald Trump's sprawling network of ostensibly independent political groups raising money for him, much of it in service of paying legal expenses, seems to walk right up to the line of breaking the law, former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MSNBC's Alex Wagner — and may in fact cross it.

"Kristy, how is this legal?" asked Wagner. "How can he keep saying this one thing and doing another?"

"Well, I think the big question here will be looking behind all of this as to who is coordinating it," said Greenberg. "If Donald Trump is coordinating between his campaign and these PACs that are supposed to be third parties and independent — the Save America PAC is independent, even though he directs it, independent third-party — if there is sufficient coordination, you could prove that, then maybe you would have something to say these expenditures are not purely personal, these are really campaign contributions. And therefore they should be subject to the limits of $5,000 that campaign contributions are subject to."...

A legal defense fund set up to assist President Donald Trump through his numerous criminal indictments hasn't actually spent any money on legal fees, reported The Daily Beast on Tuesday — and the largest thing it actually spent money on was a huge party at Trump's Mar-a-Lago country club.

"The group — a political nonprofit called the 'Patriot Legal Defense Fund' — was created by Trump campaign officials in July to help pay down the beleaguered former president’s snowballing court costs," reported Roger Sollenberger. "While the fund can accept unlimited donations from both individuals and corporations, its first periodic financial report, submitted to the Internal Revenue Service on Wednesday, indicates a phlegmatic start, with only about $1.6 million in receipts. (Trump’s 2024 campaign had raised about $56.7 million as of Sept. 30.) Even more alarming from the group is that the majority of that money — $1 million — came from a single contribution, given by a donor couple whose previous association with QAnon conspiracy theory forced the campaign to cancel a fundraiser ahead of the 2020 election."

As for the outlays, the group has spent just $28,578 — "with Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club getting $18,136 for 'banquet hall' fees in late November. The second biggest payout went to Trump political adviser Michael Glassner, who runs the fund and received $2,500 for 'consulting,' paid through his public affairs firm C&M Transcontinental."...