Former President Donald Trump has raised formidable sums, but his political operation is burning through money as his legal troubles mount, new filings show.
His joint fundraising committee brought in more than $53 million during the first six months of the year, but the committees associated with his 2024 White House bid have spent even more.
The high rate of spending is apparent in Trump's leadership PAC, where more than 70% -- or some $21 million -- of its total disbursements during the first six months of the year went to pay the growing legal bills for Trump and his associates, a report filed Monday with federal regulators shows.
The leadership PAC, Save America, started July with a little more than $3.6 million remaining in its bank accounts -- a fraction of the nearly $18.3 million in reserves it had at the start of the year -- underscoring how much the wealthy former president has relied on political contributors to help him confront his growing legal challenges.
The financial toll of multiple Trump investigations has come into focus in recent days as sources within the Trump campaign confirmed that Save America had requested that an aligned super PAC supporting his presidential bid return $60 million to the leadership PAC.
Monday's filing shows that the super PAC, dubbed Make American Great Again, Inc., had returned nearly $12.3 million -- over four installments in May and June. Officials with the super PAC have not responded to inquiries about the refund request and whether it has sent back more money to the leadership PAC since June.
In another sign of the financial crunch, Trump allies also have launched an alternative fundraising vehicle -- a legal defense fund -- that is expected to cover the bills of some of Trump's current and former aides and employees who have become wrapped up in the investigations.
Special counsel Jack Smith filed new charges last week against the former president, his aide Walt Nauta and a third defendant, Mar-a-Lago employee Carlos De Oliveira, in a case alleging Trump mishandled classified documents after leaving the White House. Those charges include allegations that Trump and his employees sought to delete security footage from the Florida resort that was sought by a grand jury.
Earlier this year, in a separate case, Trump was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on more than 30 counts related to business fraud. He also faces potential charges in the special counsel's grand jury investigation into the lead-up to January 6, 2021, as well as an investigation by the Fulton County district attorney's office in Georgia relating to attempts by him and his allies to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election result.
The biggest legal payment from Save America during the first six months of this year -- nearly $2.2 million -- went to the law firm of Trump attorney Evan Corcoran, who has represented the former president in the classified documents case and has testified before the grand jury.
