The king of grifting is at it again. Donald Trump, self-proclaimed billionaire, is using campaign and Republican National Committee donations to pay his mounting legal bills. You can’t make this up. From CNBC:
President Donald Trump is using money donated to his reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee to pay for his lawyers in the probe of alleged Russian interference in the U.S. election, according to two people familiar with the matter.
RNC donors have to be happy about that! Did they know their money was going to pay the extensive legal fees of billionaire Donald Trump? The move isn’t illegal, but it certainly is not normal.
While previous presidential campaigns have used these funds to pay for routine legal matters such as ballot access disputes and compliance requirements, Trump would be the first U.S. president in the modern campaign finance era to use such funds to cover the costs of responding to a criminal probe, said election law experts.
When questioned about the funds, the Republican National Committee and Trump’s own attorney said it’s none of your business:
John Dowd, Trump's lead lawyer, declined to say how the president's legal bills were being paid, adding: "That's none of your business."
A spokesperson for the RNC declined to comment, but said the committee has already paid unspecified, non-Russia related litigation expenses for the campaign. The RNC has an existing legal defense fund which has been used mainly for Election Day recounts and other routine legal matters for candidates, the spokesperson said.
Seriously, RNC? Does Donald Trump have a pee-pee tape on all of you? Why would they use their donors’ money to defend billionaire Donald Trump?