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."
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Notably absent from the list of expenses: any actual legal fees for the former president.
"The real fund’s million dollar donor was a foundation, called the 'Caryn L. Hildenbrand Living Trust,' which made its donation on Nov. 6, listing a California address," said the report. "Court records show that the trust belongs to Caryn and Michael Borland, whose ardent support for QAnon led the Trump campaign to cancel an October 2020 fundraiser that the Borlands were holding for then Vice President Mike Pence, the Associated Press reported at the time." The QAnon conspiracy theory holds that Trump is trying to save America from a secret group of Satanic pedophiles who run the world — some of its adherents also believe a still-living John F. Kennedy Jr. is also working alongside Trump.
Trump currently faces four criminal trials: two in Washington, D.C. and Georgia related to the plot to overturn the 2020 election, a federal case involving the theft and concealment of classified documents in Mar-a-Lago, and a business fraud case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg related to "hush-money" payments.
