NEW YORK ā Donald Trump's new joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays the former president's legal bills before the RNC gets a cut, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by The Associated Press.
The unorthodox diversion of funds to the Save America PAC makes it more likely that Republican donors could see their money go to Trump's lawyers, who received at least $76 million over the last two years to defend him against four felony indictments and multiple civil cases. Some Republicans are already troubled that Trump's takeover of the RNC could shortchange the cash-strapped party.
Trump invited high-dollar donors to Palm Beach, Florida, for an April 6 fundraiser that comes as his fundraising is well behind President Joe Biden and national Democrats. Anything left over from the donation next goes toward a maximum contribution to Save America, and then anything left from there goes to the RNC and then to state political parties.Ā
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Adav Noti, the executive director of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington, said that is a break from fundraising norms. Usually, Noti said, candidates prioritize raising cash that can be spent directly on campaign activity.
Save America, on the other hand, is structured as a "leadership PAC" and thus barred from spending directly on Trump's own campaign activities. Legal spending made up 85% of Save America's total operating expenses during the first two months of this year, roughly the same as 2023, when such expenses were about 89%. It has spent $8.5 million on legal fees so far this year.
"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, a former staff attorney for the Federal Election Commission. "No other candidate has used a leadership PAC the way the Trump campaign has."
The Trump campaign noted Save America spends on expenses other than legal fees, and donors to the April fundraiser who contribute the suggested $814,600 per person or $250,000 per person will only have $5,000 of their donation go to Save America, sending hundreds of thousands of dollars to the RNC.
"Save America also covers a very active and robust post-Presidency office and other various expenses not related to fighting the illegal witch-hunts perpetrated by Crooked Joe Biden. The Trump campaign, the RNC, and state GOP parties ultimately receive the overwhelming majority of funds raised through the Trump 47 Committee. Out of an Individual donor's maximum contribution of $824,600, less than 1% (.006%) goes to Save America," Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement.
A separate contribution form for the Trump 47 Committee allows donors to give smaller contributions or a contribution of any size but still spells out in the fine print that the donation is first to be allocated to the Trump campaign and Save America. According to the fine print, any donor who wishes can direct their contribution to be distributed differently. Donors could also bypass the fundraising arrangement and give directly to the RNC or any other entity.
Trump's handpicked leadership team for the RNC includes his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is the committee's co-chair, and Chris LaCivita, who serves effectively as one of two campaign managers for the Trump campaign and is now also taking on a chief of staff role at the RNC.
Lara Trump in February said she thought Republican voters would like to see the RNC pay Trump's legal fees.
Before the leadership change was voted in at the RNC, LaCivita told the AP that "not a penny of the RNC's money or, for that matter, the campaign's money has gone or will go to pay legal fees."
Before Trump was a candidate, the RNC paid some of his legal bills for cases in New York that began when he was president, The Washington Post reported. Former Chair Ronna McDaniel, who was ousted this month, said in 2022 that the RNC would stop paying once Trump became a candidate.
Trump's main campaign account and the Save America PAC reported raising a combined $15.9 million in February and ended the month with more than $37 million on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday night. The rest of his fundraising apparatus is scheduled to report updated numbers in April, along with the new Trump 47 Committee formed with the Republican National Committee.
Biden's campaign, meanwhile, said his political operation raised $53 million last month and ended February with $155 million on hand. That includes Biden's joint fundraising with the Democratic National Committee. The full picture will not be available until April, when some of the committees in his political operation are due to file reports.
His main campaign account raised $21 million in February, according to its latest filing with the FEC, and ended the month with $71 million on hand.