Trump main fundraiser PAC spends over $40m in legal costs for defense
3 Min Read
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and current Republican rival of Trump calls out the spending rack-up, which he believes could have gone toward the Democrats.
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Former President Donald Trump speaks at an America First Policy Institute agenda summit at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C., in July 2022. (AP)
Former US president Donald Trump's main fundraising team, the Save America leadership PAC, was found to have racked up more than $40 million in legal costs in the first half of 2023 to defend Trump, according to sources familiar with a filing of the costs to ABC News.
The costs include defending him in an indictment handed up from a federal grand jury via special counsel Jack Smith's investigation into his illegal retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump, alongside Carlos De Oliveira, head of maintenance at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, and Trump aide Walt Nauta, are being indicted with two obstruction counts on allegations that they attempted to erase surveillance footage at Mar-a-Lago in the summer of 2022.
De Oliveira is set to appear in court on Monday, as Trump additionally faces a 34-count indictment in New York out of Manhattan, in relation to hush money paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before his 2016 election. He pleaded not guilty.
Read next: Trump calls Biden 'most corrupt president in American history'
The former president is also part of Smith's investigation into the January 6 Capitol riots and his push to overturn his loss in the 2020 elections.
'Reversing America's decline'
At a campaign stop in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, Trump claimed, "These are ridiculous indictments, and all they're doing is hoping for massive election interference."
In the past, the leadership PAC is reported to have garnered tens of millions of dollars to cover legal costs for both Trump and his allies. In response, a Trump campaign spokesperson called the payments necessary: "The weaponized Department of Justice has continued to go after innocent Americans because they worked for President Trump and they know they have no legitimate case."
The spokesperson added: "In order to combat these heinous actions by Joe Biden's cronies and to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed, the leadership PAC contributed to their legal fees to ensure they have representation against unlawful harassment."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and current Republican rival of Trump, called out the spending rack-up.
DeSantis campaign spokesperson Andrew Romero said in a statement: "Trump has spent over $60 million this year on two things: falsely attacking Ron DeSantis and paying his own legal fees, not a cent on defeating Joe Biden," adding: "Governor DeSantis' sole focus, by contrast, has been campaigning for this country's future, defeating Biden, and reversing the decline of America."
Read next: GOP primary race intensifies as DeSantis, Trump clash
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung defended their action by saying: "Only desperate idiots and un-American morons would take the position the DeSantis team has taken."
DeSantis told ABC News in New Hampshire: "If he drained the swamp like he promised, you know, he probably wouldn't be in the mess that he's in right now."
