Former President Donald Trump spent about $50 million of donor funds on legal bills and expenses last year, a staggering sum following his indictments in four separate cases, according to The New York Times.
Multiple Trump super PACs have been paying the expenses after securing an initial fire hose of donations after his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election. Trump pushed unfounded and false claims of voter fraud to stoke his supporters to donate after his defeat, efforts that have since become key to two of the indictments he’s named in.
Save America, a Trump PAC that at one point had more than $100 million in the bank, nearly went broke last year amid the crushing legal expenses. The super PACs paid for attorneys for both the former president and for some of his aides who have been named in the indictments, including valet Walt Nauta and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos de Oliveira. The pair were charged in the case involving Trump’s removal of classified documents from the White House and his retention of the papers despite government attempts to retrieve them.
The bills are still biting at Trump’s heels: The Times added that 10% of every dollar the former president raises from supporters is being directed to Save America, which mainly pays the legal fees.
The exact figures the political groups paid out to attorneys last year will be reported on Wednesday as part of legally required filings to the Federal Election Commission.
The massive figure is emblematic of Trump’s legal woes as he campaigns for the Republican presidential nomination. Two of his trials are set to begin in March, which would leave him seesawing between the campaign trail and the courtroom, although the trials could soon both be delayed.
Trump’s last remaining serious Republican rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, used the report Tuesday to take a shot at her presidential competitor.
“Another reason Donald Trump won’t debate me… His PAC spent 50 MILLION in campaign dollars on his legal fees,” she wrote on social media. “He can’t beat Joe Biden if he’s spending all his time and money on court cases and chaos.”
On a personal front, Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll last week for making defamatory statements about her. A civil fraud trial is also underway in New York over his business dealings, and a judge could decide how much both he and his company are required to pay. The state’s attorney general has asked for a penalty approaching $370 million.