A political group that supports Donald Trump spent more than $40 million on legal costs in the first half of 2023 to defend the former president, his advisers and others, sources familiar with a filing detailing the costs confirmed to ABC News. That number spent by the Save America leadership PAC, Trump’s main fundraising arm, was first reported by The Washington Post. The financial filing is expected to be released Monday. The Associated Press has the story:
Donald Trump’s PAC has spent $40M on Legal Fees in 2023
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP)
Former U.S. President Donald Trump’s political action committee is expected to report on Monday that it has spent about $40 million in legal fees in the first half of 2023 to defend Trump and his advisers, among others, the Washington Post reported.
Trump ‘s mounting legal woes are burning through cash, leading his campaign to request a refund from a supportive super PAC and launch a new legal defense fund to help cover costs. His political action committee, Save America, is expected to disclose Monday that it spent more than $40 million on legal fees during the first half of the year for costs related to defending the former president, his aides and other allies, according to a person familiar with the filing who spoke on the condition of anonymity before the deadline.
The New York Times separately reported that the PAC has sought the return of $60 million it made to another group supporting Trump, a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Post said the PAC’s spending on legal costs has drawn scrutiny from prosecutors about potential conflicts of interest between Trump and witnesses. Trump’s Save America PAC is expected to disclose about $40.2 million in legal spending in a filing on Monday, the Post said, citing people who spoke on condition of anonymity.
At the same time, Trump’s allies are creating a new legal defense fund that will help pay the soaring legal fees as Trump faces dozens of criminal charges stemming from indictments in New York and Florida, with more expected as soon as this week. The Patriot Legal Defense Fund, as it is called, is intended to raise money to defray costs for those “defending against legal actions arising from an individual or group’s participation in the political process,” according to a filing made last month with the IRS. The group will be run by Trump campaign senior advisers Susie Wiles and Michael Glassner.
Trump faces dozens of federal charges in Florida over the retention of sensitive government records at his home in the state. He also faces state charges in New York after a probe into hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels.
Citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter, the New York Times said the Save America PAC, which Trump is using to pay his legal bills, faced such staggering costs this year that it requested a refund on a $60 million contribution, signaling a potential money crisis for Trump.
A spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, Steven Cheung, would not comment on the refund request to the Times. But regarding the overall spending on lawyers, he said, according to the Times, “The weaponized Department of Justice has continued to go after innocent Americans because they worked for President Trump and they know they have no legitimate case.”
The mounting costs come as Trump faces mounting legal troubles, including a superseding indictment handed up from a federal grand jury via special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s allegedly improper retention of classified documents after leaving office.
The superseding indictment, released publicly last week, charges Trump and two others — Carlos De Oliveira, head of maintenance at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, and Trump aide Walt Nauta — with two obstruction counts based on allegations that the defendants attempted to delete surveillance video footage at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2022.
Trump previously faced a sweeping, 37-count federal indictment to which he pleaded not guilty. Nauta, who was also previously charged, also pleaded not guilty. Neither of them has pleaded to the new charges yet.
De Oliveira is set to appear in court on Monday.
Trump separately faces a 34-count indictment in New York state court, out of Manhattan, related to hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
He is also a target of Smith’s investigation into the events around Jan. 6 and his push to overturn his 2020 election loss.
He has denied wrongdoing and repeatedly claimed political persecution. At a campaign stop in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, he said, “These are ridiculous indictments and all they’re doing is hoping for massive election interference.”
Trump and his allies have consistently pushed supporters to donate to Save America, often using false claims about the 2020 election and soliciting donations to rebuke the multiple investigations into the former president, his business dealings and his actions on Jan. 6.
The leadership PAC has, in the past, reported raking in tens of millions of dollars and has helped cover legal bills for either Trump or his allies.
In a statement, a Trump campaign spokesperson argued that the payments were necessary.
“The weaponized Department of Justice has continued to go after innocent Americans because they worked for President Trump and they know they have no legitimate case,” the spokesperson said. “In order to combat these heinous actions by Joe Biden’s cronies and to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, the leadership PAC contributed to their legal fees to ensure they have representation against unlawful harassment.”
Smith, the independent prosecutor probing Trump, has defended his work.
Trump launched his PAC, Save America, in the days after the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden. For weeks, the group bombarded supporters with a nonstop stream of text messages and emails that purported to raise money for an “election defense fund” that would be used to contest the election’s outcome.
But the $170 million that the effort raised in less than a month was not used to contest the election, records show. Instead, it was used to pay down campaign debt and replenish the coffers of the Republican National Committee, with Trump also stockpiling another large chunk for his future political endeavors. Last year, the Justice Department issued a round of grand jury subpoenas that sought information about the political action committee’s fundraising practices.
Since then, Save America has served as a different sort of “defense fund,” covering the legal expenses for Trump operatives, allies and employees who have been ensnared in the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation.
Some of Save America’s money has been used to boost other candidates, though it’s a pittance compared to how much Trump has spent on ballooning legal costs.
As the 2022 midterm elections approached, Trump pledged to back congressional candidates loyal to him. But of the roughly $65 million earmarked by Save America for political spending, only a fraction — about $20 million — was used to back midterm candidates through campaign contributions or paid advertising.
Save America requested to claw back much of the money. And much of the remaining cash Save America had was dedicated to a different sort of “defense fund” — paying dozens of law firms to represent the former president and his aides.
“Forty-million dollars — I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Paul S. Ryan, a longtime campaign finance attorney in Washington, referring to the sum the group spent on legal fees this year. “There’s no legal issue. It’s really just a question for his donors: Do they want to be funding lawyers?” noting that Trump had wide berth to spend money on legal fees — but that it was far more than any other 2024 presidential candidate would be spending at this point.
“It’s an extraordinary sum of money,” he said. “At the end of the day it’s up to the donors to decide if that’s the way they want their money spent. My sense is if you’re giving money to Trump in 2023, you’re fine with it.”
