Donald Trump\u2019s political group that pays his legal bills on Saturday reported spending $3.6 million on lawyer fees in March, draining the finances backing Trump\u2019s White House bid as the Republican trailed President Joe Biden at raising money.
\nTrump is facing four criminal trials \u2013 including one which began this week \u2013 as he mounts an expensive campaign to challenge Biden, a Democrat, in the November 5 presidential election.
\nTrump\u2019s Save America group, which reported the outlays to the Federal Election Commission, is spending money largely raised from small donors, though the funds available could be dwindling.
\nThe group, which is separate from Trump\u2019s campaign but was his biggest fundraising group before he announced his candidacy, reported taking in just over $10,000 from donors in March.
\nIt was able to cover spending by taking a $5 million refund of money it had previously given a super PAC backing Trump\u2019s campaign known as MAGA Inc.
\nSave America has now clawed back more than $52 million of $60 million it had previously given MAGA Inc, reducing considerably the amount of money MAGA Inc has available for television ads backing Trump.
\nWhile Save America has not disclosed the details of how much it has spent on each of Trump\u2019s legal cases, its filings show that since the start of 2023 it has spent more than $59 million on lawyer fees.
\nTrump was in court this week as a defendant on charges he falsified business records to cover up hush money payments to a porn start.
\nHis three other pending criminal trials relate to his efforts to overturn his loss to Biden in the 2020 presidential election and to charges he mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House in 2021. Trump is also appealing a $454 million civil fraud judgment, a threat to his personal finances.
\nTrump\u2019s political operation is also facing monetary challenges, disclosures to the Federal Election Commission showed.
\nHis campaign reported raising $15 million in March, up from around $11 million February but not enough to make up financial ground with Biden, who has had a persistent edge in fundraising.
\nBiden\u2019s campaign raised more than $43 million in March and ended the month with $85 million in the bank. Trump\u2019s campaign said it ended the month with $45 million in cash.
\nPublic opinion polls show the two locked in a tight race.
\nCampaign contributions pay for ads, staff and rallies but don\u2019t determine the winner. Trump was outraised in 2016 by Democrat Hillary Clinton and still beat her in that year\u2019s presidential election.
\nWhile Trump\u2019s money raising among small donors has appeared to flag, Trump in recent weeks has held fundraising events to court big donors, helping the Republican Party raise more than $20 million in March, nearly double what it collected a month earlier, the party reported on Saturday.
\nMAGA Inc, the super PAC supporting Trump\u2019s bid, reported having $33 million in the bank at the end of March, while Future Forward, the main Democratic super PAC backing Biden, reported having over $41 million.
\n(Reuters)Legal fees. lawyer fees, Trump’s political group, fundraising<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Donald Trump’s political group, Save America, spent .6 million on lawyer fees in March, draining the finances supporting his White House bid. The group, largely funded by small donors, has clawed back million from a super PAC, reducing funds available for TV ads supporting Trump. Since the start of 2023, Save America has spent over million on lawyer fees for Trump’s four criminal trials. Trump is facing charges related to falsifying business records, mishandling classified documents, and a civil fraud judgment. Despite raising million in March, Trump’s campaign still lags behind Biden in fundraising, with Biden’s campaign ending the month with million in the bank compared to Trump’s million. Trump has been holding fundraising events to court big donors, helping the Republican Party raise over million in March.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":9051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1521,1902,492,186,1221,1512,2134,3894,932,3496,166,4704,1600,3343,2515,2544,1059,4085,2110,4081,3432,756,3441,7323,5527,185,2628,4371,634,5328,5863,6130,4843,1670,1356,4041,7253,1022,3480,1846,841,7275,7324,489,457,165,6305,18],"class_list":["post-9050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-1521","tag-bank","tag-biden","tag-business","tag-campaign","tag-cash","tag-challenges","tag-charges","tag-court","tag-defendant","tag-donald-trump","tag-donors","tag-election","tag-events","tag-february","tag-fees","tag-fraud","tag-fundraising","tag-funds","tag-future","tag-hush-money-payments","tag-joe-biden","tag-judgment","tag-lawyer-fees","tag-loss","tag-main","tag-money","tag-operation","tag-opinion","tag-party","tag-polls","tag-porn","tag-president","tag-president-joe-biden","tag-presidential-election","tag-public-opinion","tag-rallies","tag-republican","tag-spending","tag-threat","tag-trump","tag-trump-trial","tag-trumps-political-group","tag-us-elections","tag-white","tag-white-house","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n