this post was submitted on 13 Feb 2024
486 points (97.3% liked)

News

30737 readers
5418 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
  • Donald Trump spent $52,431,858 on legal fees in 2023 using PAC funds, a Business Insider analysis found.
  • The vast majority — nearly $40 million — went to law firms working on his personal legal problems.
  • Trump spent this small fortune in donor money on his legal fees despite being a billionaire.

Former President Donald Trump has a lot of legal problems.

So do his company and three eldest children.

Often, political donors are footing the bill.

A Business Insider analysis has found that Trump supporters funded at least $52,431,858 in legal services in 2023 through two political action committees the GOP frontrunner controls.

Nearly $40 million of the $52.4 million in donor money was spent on law firms working on cases that had nothing to do with Trump's candidacy for the 2024 presidential election, the analysis found.

The legions of MAGA faithful may not have been aware of this when they parted with their small-dollar donations last year, galvanized by Trump's cries of "witch hunt" as he was indicted in a New York hush-money scheme in April and a Georgia election-interference case in August.

But significant portions of their donations went to law firms defending Trump in civil cases involving his real-estate empire and its top executives, including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump.

all 42 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ripcord@lemmy.world 52 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The most surprising thing I think is that this confirms that he does sometimes pay lawyers.

[–] khannie@lemmy.world 21 points 1 year ago

Only with other people's money.

[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 14 points 1 year ago

Rudy must be fuming.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Incorrect. MAGA paid some of his lawyers.

[–] EdibleFriend@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I wonder how many are demanding upfront payment now.

[–] GiddyGap@lemm.ee 30 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Donald Trump spent $52,431,858 on legal fees in 2023

Man, these people just live in a different world than the rest of us. Unreal.

[–] SolarMech@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 year ago

It's like a few lifetime's worth of efforts went into defending this guy.

[–] homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

“The legions of MAGA faithful may not have been aware of this . . .”

Really I feel like if you’re thinking MAGAnuts might be upset that their political donations to trump are not going to campaign business, you probably don't understand anything. Of course they don’t care.

Like - are you from the 50s, Business insider article rewriter? I mean I could understand that. are you normally a sheltered food critic or something has been asked to write a political article? Maybe then it would make sense.

But anyone who has been following this for more than a year should never have this question pop in their mind. And the fact that they want to propose that may be the reality is, number one, a lie, number two, normalizing propaganda, and number three, the problem with corporate news media covering trump.

They are incapable of describing the reality.

[–] Dozzi92@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

If you're MAGA, his legal fees are an investment. He just needs to make it to the election, and then all bets are off.

[–] WraithGear@lemmy.world 16 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The PAC may have considered the costs strategic value. Trump is their nominee, and his removal would cause a power vacuum. This would splinter the vote-base and hand the victory to the democrats.

As for the individuals who still donated… if after all the horrible bullshit the republicans have done, well not paying trumps fees and risking his removal would be akin to not participating at all. So they have no choice but to be satisfied with the cost.

But it does point out the quagmire that drains the PAC’s funds that could have been used in the campaign, and thats an obstacle of their own making.

[–] Upsidedownturtle@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Definitely has some strategic value. According to polls a sizable fraction have said they wouldn't vote for a convicted candidate, so in effort to not lose voters he has to delay cases past the election or obtain not guilty verdicts.

[–] sharkaccident@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Problem is getting a conviction in time. Of all the criminal cases, the only one that might have a verdict in time is the hush money one and I don't think that rises to a felony.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Stupid question but it's that legal? Doesn't that money HAVE to go to his political endeavors,?

[–] citrusface@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Nope.

According to the FEC:

"A nonconnected committee may expend its funds for any lawful purpose consistent with the Act and Commission regulations. An expenditure is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election."

Paying his legal fee certainly helps him. So. It's valid.

[–] Professorozone@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Didn't really understand it so thank you for clarifying.

[–] citrusface@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Of course! Happy to help.

[–] Furedadmins@lemmy.world 10 points 1 year ago

The article should say despite claiming to be a billionaire.

[–] ULS@lemmy.ml 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's not like the people donating don't know that's what it's going to go to.

[–] KreekyBonez@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

pretty sure the spam calls and emails to the poor saps only talk about "saving america"

then they're free to make up whatever it is they think that means

[–] ULS@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Then this is just it. Americans really are stupid at a level so great it's like a darkness/evil. Which means there's no hope anyway. That means this is the end coming.

[–] DarkGamer@kbin.social 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Play stupid (fascist & criminal) games, win stupid prizes.

[–] S_204@lemm.ee 0 points 1 year ago

The stupid prize here is American democracy.