Trump spent more than $50M from PAC money on legal fees in 2023
Former President Donald Trump spent more than $50 million in political action committee funds on his mounting legal fees last year, according to new campaign filings.
Trump’s Save America and Make America Great Again PACs funneled massive amounts of money to the former president’s half-dozen legal cases, ending the year with a combined $5.7 million cash on hand, Federal Election Commission records show.
The fundraising committees began the year with a total of $18.5 million cash on hand — and Make America Great Again sent $42.5 million back to Save America over the course of 2023 to recoup funds lost to the legal battles.
However, the 77-year-old’s principal campaign committee still had more than $33 million cash on hand as of the end of 2023.
Trump currently faces 91 criminal counts across two federal, one state and one local indictment, and all of those cases are expected to head to trial during 2024.
In addition, the former president faced civil suits in New York for purportedly inflating the wealth of the Trump Organization and defaming magazine writer E. Jean Carroll — after being found liable earlier last year for sexually abusing Carroll in a Bergdorf Goodman fitting room in 1996.
Trump was ordered last week to pay Carroll $83.3 million in damages but has vowed to appeal the decision. A verdict in his $370 million business fraud case is expected this month.
Trump paid nearly $5 million to his attorney Chris Kise, who is representing the former president against felony charges of business fraud in Manhattan and against felony charges that he illegally retained national security documents in Miami federal court.
President Biden is also being investigated by special counsel Robert Hur for keeping classified documents at his Delaware mansion and Washington, DC, office after his time in the Senate and Obama White House.
But reports indicate that the 81-year-old commander-in-chief is not expected to face charges at the conclusion of the probe.
Alina Habba, who serves as Trump’s spokeswoman and lawyer in the Trump Organization civil case, raked in $2.3 million, according to the filings.
Three other attorneys — John Lauro, Todd Blanche and Steven Sadow — earned around $2.5 million, $2 million and $1.5 million, respectively, for representing the former president against federal and Georgia election interference indictments.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department has spent $23 million in taxpayer funds investigating Trump — but just $6.4 million on its case against Biden.
