The Republican National Committee (RNC) has reportedly reached an agreement to cover legal expenses for former President Donald Trump in his ongoing civil and criminal prosecutions despite previous statements to the contrary. The new fundraising deal between the RNC and the Trump campaign comes just weeks after a slate of Trump-endorsed candidates—including the former president’s own daughter-in-law—took up leadership positions within the party.
First reported by the Associated Press, a fundraising invitation sent to Trump donors this week indicates that the RNC will begin redirecting funds to the former president’s campaign and the affiliated Save America PAC.
According to the fine print of the invitation, which plugs an upcoming fundraiser in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6th, all donations to the Trump 47 Committee will first be used to contribute the maximum amount to Trump’s campaign. Anything left over will go toward a maximum contribution to Save America, after which the remaining funds will go to the RNC.
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Per the AP, legal expenses made up a whopping 85 percent of Save America’s operating expenses in the first two months of 2024, roughly on par with the 89 percent spent in 2023.
Adav Noti, the executive director of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington, described the arrangement as a departure from fundraising norms, made possible by Save America’s status as a “leadership PAC” that cannot spend on Trump’s campaign directly.
“The reason most candidates don’t do this is because the hardest money to raise is money that can be spent directly on the campaign,” said Noti. “No other candidate has used a leadership PAC the way the Trump campaign has.”
The fundraising deal comes as a notable reversal of the RNC leadership’s previous statements on the matter. Newly-appointed RNC Chair Michael Whatley, formerly the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said earlier this month that “the president’s campaign has made it perfectly clear that they are not going to ask for any of those legal funds to be coming out of the RNC. So, that’s a done deal.”
Related: Donald Trump Makes Endorsements for New RNC Leadership
Similarly, party co-chair Lara Trump, Trump’s daughter-in-law, previously told Fox News “we’re not paying any legal bills from the RNC.” However, before being elected to her seat, she had pledged that “every single penny will go to the number one and the only job of the RNC: that is electing Donald J. Trump as president of the United States and saving this country.”
Former President Trump currently faces four criminal indictments on charges ranging from election interference and racketeering to mishandling classified documents, as well as a $454 million fraud penalty, an $83 million defamation case, and several other civil cases.
Connor Walcott is a staff writer for Valuetainment.com. Follow Connor on X and look for him on VT’s “The Unusual Suspects.”
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