The Republican National Committee makes no apologies for picking up the tab for former President Donald Trump’s legal bills, even when the fees have nothing to do with his official duties, or its mission as a political party. There should be a law against such an obvious conflict of interest, but there isn’t, even though the Federal Election Commission for years has urged Congress to extend the “personal use ban” to funds received from the party committees.
“I don’t think they are telling people, 'Write a check so we can defray the former president’s legal expenses from before he was in office.’ Wouldn’t that make an interesting fundraising appeal?” says Norm Eisen, an expert on government corruption and ethics.
The former president is exploiting the weakness in the law to suit his needs. After an initial dust-up over the RNC paying his lawyers, Trump threatened to bail on the GOP, hinting he might form a third party. That sent RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel Romney to the ramparts. Without Trump, there is no party. Paying his attorneys is the fealty that the Boss requires.
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“Donald is a master at figuring out how to make it in your interest to solve his problem,” says David Cay Johnston, a journalist who has written extensively about Trump, his taxes, and his unsavory business practices. Suggesting bad things might happen if he doesn’t get his way is how Trump—like a typical gangster—works his will.
“If Donald ran as an independent, that sinks the party. They have to keep Donald inside the tent because if he bails, the party’s over,” Johnston added.
It’s in line with how Trump does business, ducking bills and inflating assets as needed, deflating them when necessary. News that the Trump family’s longtime accountants, Mazars USA, have severed their ties and advised the attorney general of New York that Trump Organization financial statements for the last 10 years are not reliable is “another signal about the hot water he’s in,” says Eisen.
“His single greatest skill is his ability to skate at the edge of the law without falling off the edge,” Eisen told The Daily Beast. “That extraordinary genius for illegality is about to break.”
Compared to all the legal challenges Trump is facing, having the RNC pay his bills may seem insignificant. But this kind of self-indulgence should rankle party donors. “He raised more than $122 million after leaving office,” says Paul Ryan, vice president of policy and litigation at Common Cause. “I’m on Trump’s email list. He’s lying to his donors saying he’s raising money to fight what he wrongly claims was a stolen election.”
The RNC isn’t breaking any laws, but funding Trump’s lawyers isn’t what they’re advertising. “I suspect most people think their donations are to support candidates,” says Ryan. “The RNC, by paying Trump’s legal bills, is helping a bully who left office more than a year ago with his personal legal bills.”
Congress could put an end to this practice “in two seconds,” says Johnston. Lawmakers are not allowed to divert campaign funds for personal use, but that “personal use ban” does not extend to the party committees, the RNC and DNC.
Ryan cautions against reading too much into that. Congress routinely ignores lots of things, and with Mitch McConnell heading the GOP in the Senate, any attempt at campaign finance reform is dead.
The unholy alliance between Trump and the RNC will continue as long as Trump is essential to the GOP, or until Trump’s legal problems overwhelm what the RNC is able to do without implicating itself in his defense. There are already discussions underway about the extent of the U.S. government’s obligation to defend Trump if he is charged with incitement of Jan. 6, which falls outside of his duties as president.
There is a tax liability from the RNC’s largesse, says Johnston, who told The Daily Beast, “Donald Trump and Don Jr. have to pay taxes on the legal bills the RNC paid for them, and if they don’t, it’s a crime, a tax crime. They must report it.”
Saying Trump must do anything is like waving a red flag in front of a bull. The former president has spent a lifetime defying rules and, for the most part, getting away with it. That winning streak may be coming to an end, but we’re not there yet. Since leaving the White House, Trump and his family have merchandised just about everything connected to his presidency and his persona. Of the $122 million war chest he has accumulated, he has spent very little.
“His disclosure reports show he’s raising money hand over fist, and he’s not spending much of it yet. What is he stockpiling it for?” asks Ryan. “As a legal matter, he can’t use it for 2024—though his lawyers can probably find a way to get away with it.”
Ryan is alluding to a campaign finance law prohibition against using money raised under other auspices, in Trump’s case to reclaim an allegedly stolen election. That money cannot easily be transferred to a presidential campaign. But it still begs the question, what does he intend to do with this money?
He could use it to bankroll his favored candidates in the upcoming midterms. “This is not a man who liberally distributes cash to anyone,” says Eisen. “He dangles his endorsement to favored candidates, humbling them, embarrassing them, the way he used to do on The Apprentice,” the show he hosted that solidified his global celebrity.
Trump enjoys watching candidates compete against each other for his approval, and to host lavish events at Mar-A-Lago, which contributes to his bottom line.
“Now that he’s out of office, if you want Trump’s endorsement, you have to line his pockets,” says Ryan. “There’s nothing illegal, but it feels like Pay to Play.”
Or Trump could use his war chest to pay his legal bills. The way things are going, he may need it for that.
