WASHINGTON — When it comes to lawyers, former President Donald Trump and his team have one thing to say these days: “You’re hired.”
Trump’s joint fundraising committee brought in a staggering $53.8 million from the start of year to the end of June. But over the same period of time, the committee reported spending $52 million, with tens of millions going toward the legal fees of Trump and his associates, according to campaign reports filed on Monday.
Trump’s Save America leadership PAC reported more than $24 million in expenses over the first six months of the year, with the vast majority of those costs – more than $21 million – going toward legal consulting for Trump and his associates.
- What is a PAC? A PAC is a political action committee, typically organized for the purpose of raising money to either elect – or defeat – a political candidate or ballot issue. There are multiple kinds of PACS, including Super PACS, which can receive unlimited funds from individuals, organizations and other PACs.
The filings show how Trump has used political action committees to foot the bill for his legal fees, as the former president faces indictments in both federal and state courts.
The former president is not expecting his legal challenges to subside anytime soon. In addition to indictments in New York and Florida, Trump is also a target of investigations in Washington and Atlanta.
Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, his social media app, that he will be indicted “any day now” in special counsel Jack Smith’s federal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump confirmed last month that he received a target letter in the investigation, indicating that he will likely face a third indictment this year.
The former president, the 2024 Republican frontrunner, is expected to continue his efforts to fundraise off his legal challenges heading into the election next year.
Trump’s Save America PAC brought in $15.5 million from the start of the year to the end of June, leaving the committee with just $3.6 million of cash on hand at the end of June. That’s a significant change in Trump’s campaign finances over the past 18 months, as the Save America PAC reported having more than $105 million of cash on hand on Jan. 1, 2022.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina − two of Trump’s main opponents in the 2024 Republican primary race − reported more cash on hand, but they didn’t match Trump’s fundraising success.
Never Back Down, a political action committee supporting DeSantis, reported having more than $96.8 million of cash on hand at the end of June. The group backing Scott, Trust in the Mission, reported raising more than $19 million over the first six months of the year and ended June with $15 million on hand.
Contributing: Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY
