Trump’s PACs Paid $6.5 Million in Legal Bills in February

Former President Donald Trump speaks to the media after voting at a polling station in Palm Beach, Fla., on March 19, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign continues to cover multimillion-dollar legal expenses, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings.

On the evening of March 20, key cogs in President Trump’s financial machine published their February monthly reports with the regulator.

President Trump’s qualified leadership political action committee (PAC) Save America (his principal campaign committee), Donald J. Trump For President 2024 Inc., and the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc. collectively paid about $6.5 million to various firms for legal consulting in February, according to the committee’s FEC filings.

In January, PACs associated with President Trump spent more than $3.6 million on legal expenses, according to FEC records. This brings the annual tally so far to about $10.2 million.

Save America, which has shouldered most of the financial burden for the legal challenges thrown at President Trump so far in the 2024 cycle, paid about $5.6 million in February.

Save America is a qualified leadership political action committee. That means, according to the FEC, that it is “directly or indirectly established, financed, maintained or controlled by a candidate or an individual holding federal office, but is not an authorized committee of the candidate or officeholder and is not affiliated with an authorized committee of a candidate or officeholder.”

The Epoch Times previously reported that committees tied to President Trump spent more than $55 million on legal costs in 2023. President Trump often says the numerous court cases he’s facing are politically motivated.

According to its February FEC filing, Save America raised about $5 million and spent about $7.3 million during the month. It entered March with about $4.1 million on hand.

Just as in January, most of the money Save America raised came from MAGA Inc. FEC records indicate that it sent $5 million to Save America on Feb. 1. The transaction was classified as a “refund of federal contribution.”

The rest of the money Save America raised came from WinRed. It is a political action committee that transfers money from small-dollar donors to Republican Party candidates for federal office.

WinRed is a hybrid PAC. According to the FEC, a hybrid PAC can solicit and accept unlimited contributions from individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other political committees. It must maintain two bank accounts—one for independent spending on advertisements or voter drives and another for making direct contributions to federal candidates.

MAGA Inc. raised about $12.8 million and spent about $7 million in February. The PAC closed the month with about $25.5 million on hand.

MAGA Inc. is a super PAC. It can solicit from and make unlimited contributions to individuals, corporations, labor unions, and other political committees, according to the FEC. It’s unauthorized, meaning that it can’t cooperate directly with the candidate.

The former president’s legal troubles are grabbing headlines once again. On March 19, President Trump railed against a $464 million bond he has been ordered to pay while appealing a verdict in his New York trial alleging business fraud. His legal team has questioned the ability of any bonding company to cover the sum.

President Trump himself has mused about selling or mortgaging his properties at “fire sale prices“ to come up with the money.

In Georgia, a judge ruled that controversial Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can remain on President Trump’s case. On March 20, the Trump legal team requested a certificate of immediate review on that decision.