New RNC 'shared fundraising agreement' designed to 'defray' Trump’s massive legal bills: report

22 March 2024

Since taking over as co-chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Lara Trump has made it abundantly clear that the organization's top priority is helping her father-in-law, 2024 GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, defeat President Joe Biden in November. The RNC, under Lara Trump and Chairman Michael Whatley, is getting an ultra-MAGA makeover from top to bottom — and mass firings have been reported.

Another high priority for the RNC, according to New York Times reporters Shane Goldmacher and Maggie Haberman, is helping Trump pay his massive legal bills.

"Former President Donald J. Trump's new shared fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs a portion of donations to the political account he has used to pay his legal bills before any money goes to the party itself," Goldmacher and Haberman report in an article published on March 21. "The order in which entities will receive funds from big donors through what is known as the Trump 47 Committee was disclosed in the fine print of an invitation to a big dinner next month in Palm Beach, Fla., where top donors are asked to contribute up to $814,600 per person to attend."

The Times reporters add, "The invitation shows that the first $6600 donated will go to Mr. Trump's campaign. The next $5000 will go to his Save America PAC, which paid more than $50 million in legal and investigation-related bills for Mr. Trump in 2023. The $5000 amount is the maximum that federal rules say can be contributed to Save America by an individual. After that, the RNC gets the next $413,000, followed by dozens of state parties."

According to Goldmacher and Haberman, this arrangement means that "even modestly large contributors — anything above $6600 — will fund the account that Mr. Trump has used to defray legal costs."

Trump is facing four criminal indictments as well as a variety of civil lawsuits, some of which are costing him millions of dollars in damages or sanctions.

Meanwhile, in a New York Post article also published on March 21, journalist Ryan King reports that according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records, the Save America PAC "shelled out more donor cash than it raised" in February "for expenses related to some of (Trump's) legal cases."

"Save America previously requested a refund on the roughly $60 million it funneled to MAGA Inc.," King reports. "So far, it appears that Save America has clawed back $52 million from MAGA Inc., which promotes Trump's reelection efforts. MAGA Inc. raised $12.7 million in February. At the end of last month, Save America had roughly $4 million cash on hand and MAGA Inc. had $25.5 million cash on hand, but less than $8 million outstanding to Save America, according to FEC records."

The New York Post reporter adds, "In addition to its typical 'legal consulting' fees, Save America racked up roughly $530,000 in debts last month for the firm of attorney Alina Habba, who repped Trump in the defamation lawsuit filed against him by writer E. Jean Carroll and in the suit brought against him over falsifying assets by New York (Attorney General) Letitia James."

Read the New York Times' full report at this link (subscription required) and the New York Post's article here.

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