The Republican National Committee has paid nearly $2 million to law firms representing Donald Trump, but now they're warning the former president that they'll stop paying his legal bills if he runs for president in 2024, ABC News reports.
An RNC official speaking to ABC News said that the party's "neutrality policy" prohibits it from taking sides in the presidential primary.
As ABC News points out, this isn't the first time Trump's legal bill have been used as leverage over him.
"According to the book 'Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show,' by ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, in the final days of Trump's presidency, Trump told McDaniel he was leaving the GOP and creating his own political party -- only to back down after McDaniel made it clear to Trump that the party would stop paying his legal bills for his post-election challenges and take other steps that would cost him financially," ABC News reports.
Since October of 2021, the RNC has shelled out at least $1.73 million to three law firms representing Trump.
"I don't think there's been any effort" by the RNC to remain neutral, longtime Republican donor and Canary LLC CEO Dan Eberhart told ABC News. "This is a symbiotic relationship."
"The RNC needs Trump or Trump surrogates or Trump's likeness to raise money, and Trump wants them to continue paying his bills and be as pro-Trump as possible," Eberhart said. "So neither is in a hurry to cut the umbilical cord."
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