--- title: Inside the GOP Fight Over Trump’s Mounting Legal Costs description: Trump plans to pay his legal bills via his personal wealth, two Super PACs, and a GoFundMe set up by supporters, sources tell TIME canonical: https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/ author: Eric Cortellessa article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-02-28T16:08:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-19T07:40:00.276Z article:section: Politics og:title: Inside the GOP Fight Over Trump’s Mounting Legal Costs og:description: Trump plans to largely pay his legal bills via four pots of money, sources tell TIME: his personal wealth, two Super PACs, and a GoFundMe account og:url: https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25941e4572427aa2/698a48ebb3fce3a5470cbc45/GettyImages-2023793824.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: Donald Trump Addresses Presidential Forum At NRB Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Inside the GOP Fight Over Trump’s Mounting Legal Costs twitter:description: Trump plans to largely pay his legal bills via four pots of money, sources tell TIME: his personal wealth, two Super PACs, and a GoFundMe account twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25941e4572427aa2/698a48ebb3fce3a5470cbc45/GettyImages-2023793824.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Inside the GOP Fight Over Trump’s Mounting Legal Costs > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f99e000a-4c33-435a-a365-6f0ffa7cd1ed&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Breaking Down Trump's Four Indictments [Watch (HLS stream): Breaking Down Trump's Four Indictments](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nDcHXqw3.m3u8) (5:40)  _Published 2023-09-14. TIME Senior Correspondent Brian Bennett explains all four of former President Donald Trump's criminal indictments._  by [Eric Cortellessa](https://time.com/author/eric-cortellessa/)  ## Eric Cortellessa Senior Correspondent Feb 28, 2024 4:08 PM UTC TIME Senior Correspondent Brian Bennett explains all four of former President Donald Trump's criminal indictments.  by [Eric Cortellessa](https://time.com/author/eric-cortellessa/)  ## Eric Cortellessa Senior Correspondent Feb 28, 2024 4:08 PM UTC Over the coming months, Donald Trump is set to carve out a singular place in American history: the first major party nominee to effectively run his campaign out of a courtroom. As Trump fights 91 felony indictments in four separate venues, some Republicans have a pressing question they want answered: How much money from the GOP machinery will go toward his legal expenses? The answer, Trump campaign officials say, is none. Sources close to Trump tell TIME the former President plans to pay his legal bills mostly through his personal checkbook and the help of allied Super PACs. But they are still mobilizing against a [proposed resolution](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/24/us/politics/trump-barbour-rnc.html) from a Republican National Committee member to ban party funds from covering Trump’s legal fees. “It's an insult,” says a Trump-allied committee member. “It's kind of an F You to the Trump campaign. That's why.” Drafted by Henry Barbour, an RNC member from Mississippi, the measure comes as Trump marches closer to solidifying the Republican presidential nomination and [seeks to install](https://apnews.com/article/republican-national-committee-ronna-mcdaniel-trump-whatley-51c1cf029cd0a5901082f475abc81673) new loyalists to lead the organization. That includes his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, who has previously said she was willing to funnel some of the group’s funds toward Trump’s multi-million-dollar stack of legal fees. But after Barbour released his resolution over the weekend, both Lara Trump and the Trump campaign adamantly denied any such plans. The Republican National Committee, they say, will remain narrowly focused on Trump’s election and helping GOP candidates win up and down the ballot. “The primary is over and it is the RNC’s sole responsibility to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House,” says campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, whom Trump [tapped](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/14/inside-trump-campaign-takeover-rnc) to take over the RNC’s money operation. For that reason, few expect the resolution to pass. “I wouldn’t bet on it,” says one RNC member. In fact, it’s not clear whether there will even be a vote. There’s no resolutions meeting on the agenda for the upcoming RNC gathering in Houston next month, a source familiar with the matter tells TIME. Even Barbour admits his motion stands little chance. “If there is any hint in the room that the Trump campaign doesn't want it, it doesn't have a prayer,” says Barbour. “But I felt like we needed to have this discussion.” Such a resolution would have no concrete impact, as it’s non-binding. If RNC members want to statutorily prevent the committee from paying Trump’s or any candidate’s legal fees, they would need to vote on a rule change at the Republican National Convention in July. While some insiders anticipate someone will float new rules on the issue, they expect those efforts to be shot down. “It’s going to be a pretty Trump crowd at the convention,” an RNC member says. There’s another reason why some Republicans worry about Trump’s legal expenses sucking up GOP resources: the party has been struggling to compete with Democrats on fundraising. The RNC [recently reported](https://www.axios.com/2024/02/04/rnc-trump-2024-biden-dnc-fundraising) that last year was its worst fundraising year in almost a decade, raking in $87.2 million, with only $8 million leftover by year’s end. During the same time, the Democratic National Committee raised $120 million, starting 2024 with $21 million on hand. The RNC has paid for Trump’s legal fees before. In 2021 and 2022, the RNC executive committee voted a handful of times to [cover](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-rnc-legal-bills-ny-investigation-vance-james/2021/11/22/ef447f38-4bda-11ec-b73b-a00d6e559a6e%5Fstory.html) specific attorney fees to help Trump weather investigations from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Together, those disbursements amounted to roughly $1.6 million, according to multiple RNC sources, including Barbour. In late 2022, when Trump was signaling a third bid for the White House, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who is stepping down on March 8, said the committee would stop covering Trump’s legal bills once he declared his candidacy, citing the organization’s commitment to neutrality in primaries. Since then, the former President’s legal woes have only mounted. Trump, who denies all wrongdoing, faces criminal prosecutions for allegedly falsifying business records to conceal [hush money payments](https://time.com/6692815/donald-trump-court-criminal-trials/) during the 2016 election; hoarding classified documents and obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them; and attempting to overturn the 2020 election. **Read more**: [Trump’s First Criminal Trial Set to Begin on March 25 in New York](https://time.com/6695304/trump-fraud-trial-hush-money/) It’s not only lawyers’ fees putting Trump in a cash crunch. In January, a jury [ordered](https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/26/trump-trial-jean-carroll-defamation-verdict-00138171) Trump to pay the writer E. Jean Carroll, who has accused him of rape, $83.3 million for making defamatory remarks about her. And last week, a New York judge ordered him to pay $454 million in a civil fraud case, which Trump [appealed](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-fraud-case-appeal-454-million-new-york/) on Monday. Trump easily won the Michigan GOP primary on Tuesday, continuing a glidepath to the nomination that only gained traction last year as his legal liabilities grew. With each indictment, he rose in the polls and hauled in millions in fundraising. Throughout 2023, two pro-Trump Super PACs—Save America and MAGA PAC—spent [more than $50 million](https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-team-insists-rnc-funds-cover-legal-bills/story?id=107229002) on his legal bills, with another $2.9 in January. Both groups explicitly solicit donations to cover the former President’s legal defense. Sources close to Trump say he will continue relying this year on the PACs, as well as a GoFundMe account created by his supporters and his own personal wealth to support his legal defense. For Barbour, that’s hardly reassuring. While McDaniel, as RNC chair, made a point of asking the organization’s executive committee to approve Trump legal payments, sources say there’s nothing requiring a future chair to continue that practice. That means the group could end up disbursing money for Trump’s courtroom battles unbeknownst to the membership. “I don't think we'd find out about it,” Barbour says, “until somebody discovered it in an FEC report.” ## Transcript [00:07] Former President, Donald Trump has now been charged with crimes [00:10] in four separate cases. [00:11] He's the first former American president to be indicted [00:15] in the country's history. [00:16] Now, Trump's pleaded not guilty to all 91 charges against [00:20] them. So, let's break down What charges he faces. [00:23] And for, what crimes first, there's the hush money case in New [00:27] York, Trump is charged with falsifying business records. [00:30] In that case, the Manhattan district attorney album, [00:33] Bragg alleges that Trump broke the law and trying to hide hush. [00:37] Money payments to the adult film actress Stormy, [00:39] Daniels to buy her silence leading up to the 2016 [00:42] election. My attorney and I are committed to making sure that [00:46] everyone finds out the truth and the facts of what happened [00:50] and I give my word that we will not rest. [00:53] Until that happens in the middle of the case is warmer fixer. [00:56] Michael Cohen have a central issue and Brax case hangs on how [01:00] the Trump organization and Trump recorded paying Michael [01:05] Cohen hundred, thirty thousand dollars for a payment that Michael [01:08] Cohen made Stormy Daniels. [01:09] Michael Cohen says that payment was intended to buy Daniel [01:13] Silence about an alleged affair with Trump in the weeks before [01:16] the 2016 election. [01:18] And Cohen says his reimbursements were falsely reported [01:21] an internal Trump company reports as legal fees. [01:25] When actually, the money was a campaign expense to keep the end [01:29] of quiet is working for truck directed. [01:34] Michael Cohen to make hush money payments and then they were [01:37] falsely book on the company. [01:39] Records phone is also said that Trump knew about the details. [01:44] Of the payment and why it was being made Trump's legal team [01:47] denies this and says, the Trump would have paid off Daniels [01:50] regardless of whether he was running for president, [01:52] that Manhattan trial is set for March of next year. [01:56] Just as the presidential season is ramping up then there's [01:59] the classified documents case. [02:01] Trump faces criminal charges for allegedly taking home secret [02:06] documents after he left the White House and repeating the refusing [02:10] to return them and asked by federal officials in that case, [02:14] then slap is 40, felony counts, including willful retention [02:18] of National Defense information in violation of the Espionage [02:20] Act and other charges like obstructing justice and making [02:24] false statements, that case will be tried in May 2024. [02:29] So maybe next year, in federal court, [02:32] in Fort Pierce Florida, another court date in the middle of Trumps [02:36] busy campaign season. [02:37] Also faces federal charges for his role in trying to overturn [02:41] the 2020 election. [02:44] Jack's Department, special counsel. [02:46] Jacksmith allege. The Trump knew he was lying. [02:48] When he was spreading lies about the election fraud and that [02:51] trouble part of a broader effort to create Slade to fake electors [02:55] and interfere with the process of certifying, [02:57] the election results in Congress. [02:59] In that case, among the four charges, [03:02] Trump spaces are conspiracy to defraud the United States conspiracy [03:06] to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against [03:09] citizens. Right to vote in the election of a case is set to be [03:14] tried in federal court in DC. [03:16] In March the same month is supposed to go to trial for the hush [03:19] money payments in New York. [03:20] That's just going to be really busy for Trump in court and on [03:23] the campaign Trail, then there's the Georgia election case. [03:27] Trump's been charged by Fulton County district attorney [03:29] Bonnie Willis for participating in the broad effort to overturn, [03:33] binds Electoral College, win in that state. [03:38] Part of the illegal effort to overturn the results of Georgia's, [03:43] 2020 presidential election Trump faces, 13 counts. [03:48] In the case, including violating State, racketeering [03:51] laws, soliciting a public official to violated those both of office, [03:55] conspiring to commit forgery, in the first degree, [03:58] conspiring to file, false documents and making false statements. [04:04] Willis also charged 18, other defendants along with Trump including [04:08] White House, former Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows and legal [04:11] advisor, Sidney, Powell, and former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani. [04:15] This indictment is a travesty, it's an attack on, [04:19] not just me, not just President Trump, [04:22] not just the people in this indictment, [04:25] some of whom I don't even know. [04:27] What is an attack on the American people? [04:29] In the Georgia case? [04:30] Trump is accused of being the head of a criminal, [04:33] Enterprise to overturn, the 2020 election, refusing to accept [04:36] his loss and making unfounded assertions of widespread [04:40] election fraud in Georgia. [04:41] The indictment also alleges that Trump pressure, [04:44] the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, [04:46] and other top state officials to find a way to reverse his loss [04:50] and is north of the famous recorded phone call between Trump [04:54] and Georgia Secretary of State Brad raffensperger in the recording [04:58] from January 2nd 2021 Trump is heard asking the state's top election [05:03] official. Tri-quilt find 11780 boats. [05:09] One more than the number. [05:10] He lost by and then decide to swing state. [05:13] Trump has described that phone, call is perfect and denied, [05:16] he did anything wrong. [05:17] That trial will be held in Atlanta. [05:20] One thing is for certain Trump's going to be spending a lot of [05:23] days in court next year at a time, [05:25] when he had planned to be on the campaign Trail, [05:26] trying to win another four years in the White House. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/"},"headline":"Inside the GOP Fight Over Trump’s Mounting Legal Costs","datePublished":"2024-02-28T16:08:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T07:40:00.276Z","description":"Trump doesn't plan to tap the cash-strapped RNC to pay his lawyers, sources tell TIME","url":"https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25941e4572427aa2/698a48ebb3fce3a5470cbc45/GettyImages-2023793824.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Cortellessa","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eric-cortellessa/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt25941e4572427aa2/698a48ebb3fce3a5470cbc45/GettyImages-2023793824.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Addresses Presidential Forum At NRB Convention","caption":"Donald Trump Addresses Presidential Forum At NRB Convention","creditText":"Brett Carlsen—Bloomberg via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/","name":"Inside the GOP Fight Over Trump’s Mounting Legal Costs"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Breaking Down Trump's Four Indictments","description":"TIME Senior Correspondent Brian Bennett explains all four of former President Donald Trump's criminal indictments.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/nDcHXqw3/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-09-14T16:39:47.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/nDcHXqw3.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/","duration":"PT5M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6836021/trump-legal-costs-rnc-gop/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```