Trump crafts fundraising to pay bills ahead of RNC
Donations would go to his campaign first, then PAC, then party
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s new joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays his legal bills before the RNC gets a cut, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by The Associated Press.
The unorthodox diversion of funds to the Save America PAC makes it more likely that Republican donors could see their money go to Trump’s lawyers, who have received at least $76 million over the last two years to defend him against four felony indictments and multiple civil cases. Some Republicans are already troubled that Trump’s takeover of the RNC could shortchange the cash-strapped party.
Trump has invited high-dollar donors to Palm Beach, Florida, for an April 6 fundraiser that comes as his fundraising is well behind President Joe Biden and national Democrats. The invitation’s fine print says donations to the Trump 47 Committee will first be used to give the maximum amount allowed under federal law to Trump’s campaign. Anything left over from the donation next goes toward a maximum contribution to Save America, and then anything left from there goes to the RNC and then to state parties.
Adav Noti, executive director of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center in Washington, said that is a break from fundraising norms. Usually, Noti said, candidates prioritize raising cash that can be spent directly on campaign activity. Save America, on the other hand, is structured as a “leadership PAC” and thus barred from spending directly on Trump’s own campaign activities. The group devoted 84% of its spending to Trump’s legal costs as of February.
“The reason most candidates don’t do this is because the hardest money to raise is money that can be spent directly on the campaign,” said Noti, a former staff attorney for the Federal Election Commission. “No other candidate has used a leadership PAC the way the Trump campaign has.”
The Trump campaign noted that Save America spends on expenses other than legal fees and that donors to the April fundraiser who give the suggested $814,600 per person or $250,000 per person will have only $5,000 of their donation go to Save America, sending hundreds of thousands of dollars in funds to the RNC.
“Save America also covers a very active and robust post-Presidency office and other various expenses not related to fighting the illegal witchhunts . ... The Trump campaign, the RNC, and state GOP parties ultimately receive the overwhelming majority of funds raised through the Trump 47 Committee,” Steven Cheung, the Trump campaign communications director, said in a statement.
Trump’s handpicked leadership team for the RNC includes his daughterin-law, Lara Trump, who is the committee’s co-chair, and Chris LaCivita, who serves effectively as one of two campaign managers for the Trump campaign and is now also taking on a chief of staff role at the RNC.
Lara Trump in February said she thought Republican voters would like to see the RNC pay Trump’s legal fees.
But shortly before the leadership change was voted in at the RNC, LaCivita told the AP that “not a penny of the RNC’s money or, for that matter, the campaign’s money has gone or will go to pay legal fees.”
Before Trump was a candidate, the RNC was paying some of his legal bills for cases in New York that began when he was president, The Washington Post reported. Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who was ousted this month, said in 2022 that the RNC would stop paying once Trump became a candidate.
According to the fine print, any donor can direct their contribution to be distributed differently.
Trump’s political operation is struggling to catch up to Biden on fundraising and organization. His main campaign account and the Save America PAC reported raising a combined $15.9 million in February and ended the month with more than $37 million on hand, according to filings Wednesday
night with the Federal Election Commission.
The two committees are key parts of Trump’s fundraising operation but only a portion of the picture. The rest of his fundraising apparatus is scheduled to report updated numbers in April.
“Trump is in dire need of money to pay his legal fees, and he’s draining his PAC and he’s spending huge amounts of money out of his campaign committee,” said Brett Kappel, a longtime campaign finance attorney.
Biden’s main campaign account, meanwhile, raised $21 million in February, according to its latest FEC filing, and ended the month with $71 million on hand.