The New York Times has received federal election documents revealing that Donald Trump used $10 million in donor funds to pay his legal fees in 2016.
Trump deposited the funds from his Save America PAC into the coffers of his attorneys, who continue to fight various cases.
Teams of attorneys are defending the 76-year-old against allegations of tax fraud at the Trump Organization, an inquiry into his handling of confidential materials at Mar-a-Lago, interference in the Georgia election, and inciting the January 6 uprising.
Rudy Giuliani, who championed Trump’s assertions that the 2020 election was stolen, does not appear on the list compiled by The New York Times.
Trump informed his advisors that he would not pay Giuliani unless he was successful in overturning the election.
Experts told the Post that it is unclear whether Trump can continue to use his PAC cash to cover his personal legal fees now that he is a declared presidential contender.
“Payments by a PAC that exceed the contribution limit are illegal contributions to the candidate,” said Jason Torchinsky, a campaign finance specialist and attorney with the law firm Holtzman Vogel.
The current maximum on individual contributions to candidates for the current two-year election cycle is $3,300.
The largest payment, $3 million, was made to the Florida-based law firm Critton, Luttier & Coleman.
The firm is associated with Christopher M. Kise, a former Florida attorney general.
Trump recruited Kise to work on the Mar-a-Lago documents issue, but he is also assisting New York Attorney General Letitia James with the Trump Organization tax fraud investigation.
Silverman Thompson Slutkin and White, an additional firm working on the Mar-a-Lago documents, earned $1,300,000.
Evan Corcoran, another of Trump’s prominent attorneys, works at the firm.
Last month, Corcoran went before a grand jury regarding the secret information, and federal prosecutors want him to return to answer additional questions. They’ve requested that the judge forego his prerogative to decline to answer questions based on attorney-client confidentiality.
The PAC paid around $1.2 million in legal fees to Jim Trusty’s business, Ifrah Law.
Trump reportedly hired Trusty after seeing him on television and deciding to employ him, as reported by the newspaper.
Michael van der Veen’s legal firm received further funding of $1,300,000.
He represented Trump during his second impeachment hearing and in a New York tax fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization, in which the Trump Organization was found guilty on all 17 counts.
And almost $2 million was given to the firm of Alina Habba, who represents Trump in the case of E. Jean Carroll, who accuses him of raping her in a New York City department store dressing room in the 1990s.
Also, Habba represents the former president in his fight against The New York Times for its revelations on his tax returns, a defamation case in Pennsylvania, and a case against Michael Cohen, Trump’s former attorney and ‘fixer’ who has now turned against him.
The majority of Trump’s PAC funds were raised prior to his November 2024 re-election bid announcement.
According to its federal reports, the PAC had slightly over $18 million in cash at the end of last year.
»Donald Trump’s legal bills cost donors $10MILLION«