Spiraling Legal Bills Threaten Trump With a Cash Crunch

[Zorro]

The former president’s political orbit, including the super PAC that backs him, is already spending more than it is taking in — an unusual trajectory this far out from an election.

Donald J. Trump’s legal problems aren’t just piling up — his legal bills are, too.

New financial reports show that the former president’s various political committees and the super PAC backing him have used roughly 30 cents of every dollar spent so far this year on legal-related costs. The total amounts to more than $27 million in legal fees and other investigation-related bills in the first six months of 2023, according to a New York Times analysis of federal records.

That $27 million in legal costs includes Mr. Trump paying at least eight law firms more than $1 million each in the first half of 2023, part of a sizable set of legal billings expected to spiral upward in the coming months as his overlapping criminal cases wind their way toward courtrooms in New York, Florida and Washington, D.C.

The new disclosures revealed the remarkable degree to which Mr. Trump’s political and legal cash are intermingled, much like his own political and legal fate.

Mr. Trump’s complex political orbit is already spending more than it is taking in, and tapping into money it raised years ago — an unusual trajectory this far out from an election. And the burn rate raises questions about whether such an approach is untenable, or whether Mr. Trump will eventually need to dip into his own fortune to pay for his lawyers, his 2024 campaign or both.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/us/politics/donald-trump-legal-bills-campaign.html?unlocked_article_code=U1SnB59ZhVD80gfOB669JRrwUzOIni_0jbYlZaPZHkAJW1Ih9r7fP3ZUXS4Uf0DP_dX-YqrlaPKDWuy5rvydZaSSk0av8WQyW2tu6UReRYL00QlRUpwszaD76hfn7MXwwtWuGx-LmOwy5uDhUweF0iY-ENeHoj4wQNoUO-ddeIlaNbNYwjjYObGudk1gSF5LsVDtlttvaPlM2A2k_VB9CrRy-jROaFqVPDU2hoqFKqrdy2oqWrx9lmI-cRbc55ItE6yNUbIO9JOY_gqUaVwu4EMkB7EUd5qwTksCAB7kB3uEcXIOwXShwzIrvKY3hc7AU06j2caLymODWQIIVwB1IZOHqu8rbkHLApzQ2QCRow&smid=url-share

[SheilaAnn]

1. What happens if the PTB are successful in removing him from the ballot? Does he get to keep that $

[getagrip_already]

2. Wait.....

Smith is reportedly going to issue separate indictments against at least the six co-conspirarors in the j6 case, and possibly a lot more.

If tfg feels the need to shield himself by paying their legal fees, he is gonna need a lot more chumps to gift off of.

If he doesn't pay their bills, they could testify against him to try to reduce their charges.

Tfg won't be charged in these indictments, and they won't be added to his. They will stand apart in separate trials.

[riversedge]

3. Well, maybe Trumpy will have to sell a golf or two. Too bad.

[Aristus]

4. Exasperated Lenders Threaten Trump With Cash Crunch.

That's the real headline.

His entire fortune is floating on a huge ocean of debt.

[Maeve]

5. Story of much of his life...a fool and his money

Not a bad title for his biography....

[dslyahoo]

6. What fortune??

[Kaleva]

7. Refusing to pay for his legal bills with his own money

he's burning up his campaign funds instead.