Trump PACs spent an estimated $50 million of donor money on attorney fees and related expenses in 2023: report
- In 2023 alone, former President Donald Trump was staring down 91 felony charges.
- He also spent part of the year fighting back against a sexual assault and defamation case.
As he racked up indictment after indictment in 2023, ultimately adding up to 91 felony charges across several different states and the District of Columbia, former President Donald Trump reportedly spent around $50 million originating from his supporters for legal fees and expenses.
The New York Times initially reported the astonishing figure Tuesday afternoon, a day before Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and related PACs and super PACs must file their year-end financials to the Federal Election Commission. Neither of the PACs had filed their reports by the time of this publication.
The report noted the embattled former president's legal fees were primarily paid not from his own account, but instead from the coffers of Save America, a Trump-supporting political action committee, and the Make America Great Again PAC.
As of October 2023, the Associated Press reported the Save America PAC had spent more on legal fees that year than the combined legal spending that same year of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Democratic National Committee, and Republican National Committee.
Since reluctantly leaving the White House in January 2021 following his narrow electoral loss to now-President Joe Biden, Trump's been entangled in a web of lawsuits and indictments in connection to a failed attempt to overturn the election, a sexual assault and a related defamation case, and mishandling classified documents.
Though Trump-related PACs reportedly spent such exorbitant amounts on legal matters in 2023 alone, one of the former president's closest legal allies recently claimed he's yet to be paid in full: former New York City Mayor and Trump's former attorney, Rudy Giuliani.
In a recent bankruptcy court filing in New York, he said his net income had fallen to just $2,308 a month and that his old boss still owed him millions. As of August 2023, he'd only publicly received $340,000 in reimbursement from a Trump PAC.