Tuesday, February 13, 2024

When The Donations Dry Up…

...Trump is toast.
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.

Analysis shows Trump spent $4 million more on civil cases than criminal ones. It’s impossible to discern just how the money was spent,  but Trump had three civil trials in 2023 (two Jean Carroll trials, and 8+ weeks in the NY civil fraud case). Trials are expensive. And Trump has four criminal trials to go. He spent $14.43 million on criminal cases without one trial yet. The best is yet to come.

Appeals are expensive, too. And he’s going to need money for appeals bonds. Lots and lots of money.

It's not clear why Trump uses money from his political donors to pay for his personal legal expenses. He's worth about $2.6 billion, a September analysis from Forbes found. In a deposition taken for the New York attorney general's civil fraud lawsuit, Trump suggested his net worth was as much as $14 billion. A January analysis from Bloomberg found he had $600 million in liquid assets. 
Trump may not be permitted to use PAC money to pay for any losses in court, though the FEC commissioners — half of whom are Republicans — have hesitated to enforce the agency's limits on spending. 
For the $5 million in sexual-abuse and defamation damages owed to Carroll for the loss in his 2023 trial, Trump took money from his real-estate company and gave it to himself, according to court filings. He then transferred the cash to a court-controlled account, where it must remain as he appeals the verdict. 
He must soon pay another $83.3 million for the second Carroll trial — which far exceeds his PAC coffers — and may need to put up hundreds of millions of dollars more once the judge who oversaw his civil fraud trial issues a judgment. In all those cases, he must put up the money as a bond or in escrow as he pursues appeals, which could take years to resolve. 
The PAC spending on legal fees in 2023 far exceeded previous years. In 2021 and 2022 combined, Trump spent $16 million on legal fees through the Save America PAC. Trump is poised to spend even more money on legal expenses this year. He already went through a grueling two-week trial in January to determine damages for defaming Carroll. In March, he's expected to sit for his first criminal trial, over the Manhattan district attorney's indictment over the payments to Daniels. Three more criminal cases are to follow. 
And then there's the race for the presidency, which Trump hopes to recapture. He might want to spend money on that, too.

Of course, after the fraud trial, the only thing we can say for certain is that Trump lies about his net worth. And until we uncover another set of books with the real values, it’s safe to assume no one knows at all what Trump is worth; including Trump ( he believes his own lies). 

Is he happier spending other people’s money? Or is he not that rich? We’re about to find out. He can’t use PAC money to fund appeal binds; he has to pay his lawyers. If he starts stiffing them, they’ll drop him like a bad habit. He’ll never subject himself to proof he needs a public defender. He’d rather eat his own head.

Interesting times ahead.

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