VANDALIA, OHIO - NOVEMBER 07: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Dayton International Airport on November 7, 2022 in Vandalia, Ohio. Trump is in Ohio campaigning for Republican candidates, including U.S. Senate candidate JD Vance, who faces U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH) in tomorrow's general election. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
As the 2024 election cycle begins to ramp up, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump continues to collect criminal charges. According to the latest report from the Federal Election Commission, nearly half of the money Trump raised last quarter went to a political action committee that is paying his legal fees.
Trump raised a total of $35 million between March and June. His campaign only received $17.7 million, while the remaining money went towards the Save America PAC, which has been covering the expenses of Trump’s personal lawyers, and the lawyers for his allies.
Campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung defended the diversions in a statement, claiming that Trump’s efforts to merge his political and legal efforts stem from a President Joe Biden-led movement to keep Trump out of office.
“They see another political indictment or target letter and they know this is just the weaponized Biden Justice Department going after President Trump,” said Cheung. “It solidifies in their mind what the President has been saying for all these months. So much of the legal messaging is political messaging and so much of the political messaging is legal messaging.”
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The former president has been under scrutiny from Democrats and Republicans for using his campaign money to pay his legal fees. Trump’s latest personal financial disclosure indicated that he brought in around $1 billion since leaving office.
Trump is finding other ways to intertwine his bid for the presidency and his legal challenges. Many of his campaign messages refer to the pending charges against him. One recent message read, “Please make a contribution to show that you will NEVER SURRENDER our country to tyranny as the Deep State thugs try to JAIL me for life.”
Though his 2024 campaign tactics have raised legal and ethical questions, Trump continues to lead the crowded GOP field. Polling in second is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is still trailing the former president by more than 20 points.
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