Pro-Trump super PAC expected to disclose spending $40M on legal bills

A super political action committee (PAC), founded by former President Trump, is expected to disclose its spending more than $40 million in legal bills. 

Sources told The Washington Post that the PAC, Save America, is expected to disclose the sum, $40.2 million, in a filing Monday. The sum is more than any other expense the Trump-led PAC has incurred in its 2024 presidential campaign, also more than what the campaign raised during the second quarter of 2023, according to federal filings. 

Sources also said that prosecutors investigating Trump have raised questions about who is paying for Trump’s legal team and the reason. 

Trump advisers told the Post that the PAC is paying the bills for those who are drawn into the ongoing investigations who requested help from Trump and his advisers. 

The former president’s advisers also said that the costs of providing legal assistance for dozens of people is necessary and will grow as ongoing investigations continue, according to The Washington Post.

Altogether, Save America has spent $56 million in legal fees for the former president and allies. The PAC has also requested a refund on its $60 million contribution made to another group supporting the former president, according to The New York Times.

“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,” Trump spokesperson Steven Chung said in a statement to The Hill. “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.”

This comes as Trump, who announced his third presidential campaign last November, faces legal battles and federal investigations against him and his company.

Special counsel Jack Smith added three additional charges against former President Trump in a superseding indictment last week, as he originally indicted the former president on 37 counts related to his alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. 

“The ‘Trump paid $40m in legal fees’ attack is so lame. I have good friends who did nothing wrong who had their legal fees paid by Save America PAC,” Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) wrote in a post on X, a social media platform formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday. “Would you rather they throw all of their employees under a bus?”

“The real story is that our system has become so corrupted that it costs millions of dollars to fight it,” Vance added. “Anyone who thinks they wouldn’t do this to DeSantis, or Scott, or anyone else, is kidding themselves.”