WASHINGTON ― Under a new scheme engineered by Donald Trump, his personal committee that has been paying his legal bills will be able to skim nearly $32 million from large-dollar donors that otherwise would have gone to the Republican Party, if he and the party can match their fundraising numbers from four years ago.
In the 2020 campaign, every dime of the $396 million jointly raised by the coup-attempting former president and the GOP from those writing big checks went to Trump’s campaign, the RNC and then a host of state parties.
This time, though, the “Trump 47” joint committee puts Trump’s “Save America” leadership PAC ― essentially a slush fund at Trump’s disposal that he has used to pay lawyers defending him from both criminal and civil charges ― second in line to collect money. After the first $6,600 goes to Trump’s campaign, the next $5,000 goes to Save America. Only when a donation exceeds $11,600 does the RNC get its first penny.
Had that arrangement been in place in 2020, Trump’s personal fund would have received $31.8 million that otherwise would have gone to the RNC and state parties, according to a HuffPost analysis of Federal Election Commission filings.
“The RNC has become a money-laundering operation for the most crooked president in history,” said Jennifer Horn, once an RNC member by dint of her former role as chair of New Hampshire’s Republican Party.
“The campaign doesn’t care, and it seems the donors don’t care either. I think people increasingly see the legal challenges as part of the campaign,” said longtime GOP consultant David Kochel. “He has to fight the ‘lawfare’ and the Biden campaign.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to HuffPost queries about how much the joint fundraising effort will help deal with his personal problems, rather than help the party win elections.
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