Former President Donald Trump’s political action committee spent more than $40 million on legal fees in the first half of 2023 alone amid a growing maelstrom of lawsuits and indictments, The Washington Post reported this weekend.
Trump’s PAC, Save America, is expected to disclose the gargantuan level of spending in filings with the Federal Election Commission on Monday. The Post notes the massive spending accounts for the former president’s own legal team, and also attorneys for his former aides, advisers and supporters that have been ensnared in the investigations related to his behavior during and after his presidency.
The fact that the political group is paying for legal counsel for dozens of people, including those that could be witnesses in various trials, has raised concerns among prosecutors about potential conflicts of interest, the Post added.
The $40.2 million in spending this year brings the PAC’s total outlay for legal fees to $56 million since Trump left the White House, with the prospect of much more to come.
Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith filed more federal felony charges against Trump on Thursday as part of his investigation into the former president’s handling of classified information after his presidency. Smith’s team is also reportedly nearing charging decisions in relation to the ongoing investigation into Trump’s behavior surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump faces state-level charges related to payments made at the end of 2016 to the porn star Stormy Daniels. And prosecutors in Georgia are probing his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election there.
The New York Times added Saturday the staggering legal fees have grown so large Save America requested a refund on a $60 million contribution it made to another pro-Trump group. The request signals the Trump war chest may be dwindling despite the former president’s vise grip on the Republican nominating contest for the 2024 presidential race. The Times added that Trump raised more than $100 million in small-dollar donations after he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, which was parked in the Save America PAC accounts.
The political group began 2023 with just $18 million cash on hand.
A spokesman for Trump’s campaign told the Times the mammoth spending was part of an ongoing political attack against the former president.
“The weaponized Department of Justice has continued to go after innocent Americans because they worked for President Trump and they know they have no legitimate case,” the spokesman, Steven Cheung, told the newspaper.