Politics

Trump’s super PAC helped pay his legal bills. This could end soon.

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A PAC controlled by former President Donald Trump, which dedicated tens of millions of dollars to his and his allies’ legal projects, may be running out of money after spending nearly $3.7 million on legal fees in March.

Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, has already spent $59.5 million on legal advice since the start of 2023. It also incurred $886,000 in new legal debt in March, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission in Saturday night. More than $1.1 million of March’s spending went to two firms representing Trump in his criminal trial in New York.

The total spent on legal expenses for Save America was almost equal to that spent by Trump’s campaign committee in March, highlighting how the legal troubles have drained money from his political operation. Trump’s official campaign committee spent just over $3.7 million in March, with travel expenses, followed by payroll, making up its largest expense categories.

That total is minuscule compared to the more than $29 million that President Joe Biden’s campaign spent in March, with the current president launching a major advertising campaign.

Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, managed to stay in the black in March due to another $5 million refund in March from Make America Great Again Inc., the Trump-supporting super PAC. The super PAC has transferred $5 million to the lead PAC every month since last July, with less regular transfers before that.

The PAC’s leadership initially seeded the super PAC with $60 million before he announced his candidacy. Now, MAGA Inc. can only send another $2.75 million back to Save America, raising questions about whether Save America will continue to be the vehicle to fund legal projects in several Trump-linked cases.

The PAC leadership had just over $4 million in cash at the end of March. It can still raise funds from donors and has already obtained money through one of Trump’s joint fundraising committees, although such transfers have been rare in recent months. That source may be even more closed in the future: Since early April, Trump has primarily sent fundraising emails on behalf of a new joint fundraising committee, the Trump National Committee, which raises funds only for the his campaign and for the Republican National Committee.

The RNC reported its best fundraising month yet in March, with $20 million raised, about half of which came through another Trump-linked joint fundraising committee. However, the party committee spent $10 million, leaving $21 million in cash, less than half of the $45 million that the Democratic National Committee reported having in the bank at the end of March.

Among the RNC’s March expenses was $118,000 paid to former chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on March 6, two days before she left the committee. Representatives for McDaniel and the RNC did not immediately return a request for comment on the payment.

MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC that has been funding Save America, continued to raise money in March, with $14 million raised led by massive donations from family Republican donors. Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO who led the Small Business Administration under Trump, donated $5 million to the super PAC, while Nevada real estate mogul Robert Bigelow donated more than $4 million. Most of these funds cannot go to Save America as MAGA Inc. is limited in what it can transfer based on what Save America previously gave to the super PAC during the 2022 cycle.

Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.



This story originally appeared on Politico.com read the full story

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