(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump has been embroiled in civil and criminal legal cases since leaving office, racking up millions in legal fees on top of fines ordered by the courts.
To pay for his defense, Trump has been using campaign donations from supporters instead of dipping into his personal funds.
How much money has Trump spent?
Trump has accrued more than $100 million in legal fees already, and three of his criminal trials have hardly gotten off the ground.
The cases range from those directly connected to his actions while campaigning for his presidency, including the two federal criminal cases and the Georgia case regarding election interference. But others, like the civil cases in New York regarding business fraud and defamation and the current criminal case regarding business fraud do not.
To complicate things more, some of the lawyers Trump uses work on both his personal cases and political ones, making it difficult to know where exactly the money is going.
Where is Trump’s money coming from?
Most of the money is coming from what are called Political Action Campaigns (PACs). Trump’s supporters donated more than $250 million for an “election defense fund” following his 2020 loss and allegations of voter fraud, none of which have stood up to legal scrutiny.
The money was split between two PACs. One is the Make America Great Again (MAGA) PAC, a stand-alone PAC, and the second is the Save America PAC, which is a leadership PAC. Leadership PACs are meant to help fund other candidates, but the Save America PAC had spent around $70 million on Trump’s legal fees by early 2024 and the MAGA PAC had spent around $30 million.
But the Save America PAC was running out of money, leaving it to be bailed out by the MAGA Inc. PAC (not to be confused with the MAGA PAC) via a “refund” of previous donations. MAGA, Inc. is a super PAC. Super PACs have the ability to raise and use virtually unlimited amounts of funds, unlike regular PACs, which have limits governed by campaign finance law.
Where do Trump’s legal cases stand?
The hush money trial in New York is set for closing arguments on Tuesday, with a verdict possible as early as next week. It has been the fastest-moving of all the cases and may be the only one to go to trial before the 2024 election. If convicted, Trump won’t necessarily face jail time, as the judge could opt for probation and fines instead.
The federal election interference case against Trump is delayed while the Supreme Court weighs his arguments for presidential immunity. Though the Court could issue a decision soon, if it issues a ruling that throws some or all of the case back to the lower courts the trial would be delayed even more. If Trump wins in November, he could also pardon himself in the case, at least in theory. Like many legal questions surrounding his trials, it’s an issue that has never been litigated before.
The Georgia election interference case is also on hold as Trump’s team appeals a decision by a lower court that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the case. Trump has argued that Willis be removed due to her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Wade recused himself from the case after the lower court ruling. It isn’t clear how long the appeal will take. Trump would be unable to pardon himself in a state case and due to Georgia law, neither would Gov. Brian Kemp.
The federal classified documents case has been put on indefinite hold by Judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon gave issues around classified evidence as the reason for the delay, but some have suggested Cannon, a Trump appointee, is either incompetent or helping the Trump team’s legal strategy of delaying cases until after the election. Trump could also pardon himself in this case if elected.
Which of Trump’s trials is the money being used for?
It’s not necessarily clear. Some of the lawyers paid, including the firm Chris Kise and Associates, are involved in multiple cases. In the case of Chris Kise and Associates, the firm has worked on both the hush money case, which is a personal one, and the classified documents case, which is related to Trump’s official political career and actions.
Is this legal?
Yes, for the most part. A loophole in campaign finance law means candidates can spend PAC funds on personal expenses while being prohibited from using campaign funds for personal matters.
Trump could have started a separate legal defense fund for supporters to donate but he hasn’t done that.
Candidates are also allowed to spend money on legal fees directly related to campaigning or their job in office. That creates something of a grey area for Trump since the classified documents case, for example, could be considered related to his work in office but it could also be argued that it’s so far outside the scope of his role that it shouldn’t count.
There is also the fact that using lawyers on multiple cases muddies the waters because it’s not clear exactly which cases the money was used for.
The different types of PACs also make things more complicated. Due to loopholes in the law, super PACS (Maga, Inc.) and unaffiliated PACs (MAGA) can be used for personal legal expenses. It’s less clear with PACs affiliated with a candidate, in this case, the Save America PAC.
In reality, it’s unlikely to matter, because the Federal Elections Commission hasn’t been able to agree on whether PAC money can be used for personal legal funds.
But there’s another catch. As the presumptive GOP nominee, not just a private citizen, Trump’s campaign should be subject to limits on how much it can accept in donations from PACs and it should be prohibited from coordinating with them.
To sum it up, there could be some potential violations of law, but there are plenty of grey areas and things that have never been clarified because Trump’s situation is so unique.
Could Trump face any repercussions for this?
Probably not. The FEC has been notoriously lax in enforcing laws around PACs, especially regarding coordination with campaigns. While one organization has filed a complaint regarding Trump’s spending on legal fees, there’s no sign of whether the FEC will do anything about it.
In order to change things in the future, Congress would need to take up campaign finance reform and potentially also pass legislation that would mandate more enforcement of laws by the FEC.