Andrew Kelly/AP
- Trump is locked in a mountain of legal battles, including two criminal indictments. He's pleaded not guilty.
- Those legal troubles have cost Trump's super PAC, Save America, about $40.2 million, The Washington Post reports.
- Trump's team plans to create a fund dedicated to addressing some of the legal fees, per The New York Times.
Former President Donald Trump's high tower of legal battles cost his super PAC, Save America, more than $40 million in 2023 alone, The Washington Post reported.
In the first half of this year, the committee, which mostly relies on small-dollar donations from Trump supporters, spent about $40.2 million to provide legal defense for Trump and others in his orbit, sources familiar with the PAC's impending filing told The Post.
No expense related to Trump's 2024 campaign has reached the dollar amount the fundraising vehicle is spending on lawyers, according to the Post report.
In total, the PAC spent $56 million on legal fees since Trump left office, The Post reported.
The mounting bills aren't just limited to providing legal defense for Trump, including two indictments to which he has pleaded not guilty. According to the report, the PAC is footing attorney fees for dozens of advisers and other people who have somehow been implicated in one of the many investigations into the former president.
Walt Nauta, an aide who is a co-defendant in the classified documents case that has led to Trump's second indictment so far, is getting help with his legal bills through the PAC, The Post reported. Nauta pleaded not guilty in the criminal case.
In a statement to Insider, Trump's spokesperson, Steven Cheung, denounced the Justice Department's investigations and said that the PAC was paying the legal bills "to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed" by the "unlawful harassment."
As those costs could increase as the investigations continue and other indictments loom, Trump's team plans to create a separate fund — the Patriot Legal Defense Fund — that will be dedicated to providing legal support just for associates and employees, sources told The New York Times.
In general, the legal bills have created such a financial burden for the Save America PAC that it recently requested a refund for a $60 million donation made to another political action committee supporting Trump's 2024 campaign, The Times reported.
Susan Wiles, CEO of Save America PAC, did not respond to a request for comment.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/wvcAuLQ
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