Donald Trump’s campaign has raised more than $200 million since Election Day, with much of it likely headed to what watchdogs call a “slush fund” that he will be able to pay out directly to himself.
As Politico reported, the campaign announced Thursday evening that the fundraising operation brought in $207.5 million since November 3. The report noted that it was a “remarkable sum” for a period after the election, when most campaigns shutter their operations. Trump has instead ramped up activity, sending hundreds of fundraising emails to supporters, often multiple times a day.
The report noted that these pitches often contain false claims and dire language, accusing Democrats of attempting to steal the election and calling on supporters for help.
But rather than helping push the legal challenges, Politico pointed out that most of the money is headed to a leadership political action committee called “Save America,” which was created days after Joe Biden was projected the winner of the race. The organization takes 75 percent of each contribution, up to $5,000, with contributions above that amount going to the recount effort.
The outlet noted that the PAC is a “type of vehicle popular with both parties on Capitol Hill but long derided by watchdogs as essentially a type of slush fund” that has few restrictions on how Trump will be able to spend it.
Some have raised concern that Trump could be able to use it to enrich himself and his family once he has left the White House.
“It’ll be a slush fund,” Paul S. Ryan, a campaign finance lawyer with the group Common Cause, told The Huffington Post . “Trump could decide to pay himself $1 million a year out of this fund. That’s legal. He could pay [his children] Don Jr. and Ivanka, if he wanted to. It’s pretty clear that this is a classic bait-and-switch scheme.”
As The Inquisitr reported, many insiders believe that he is gearing up for another run for the White House in 2024.
Critics have long taken aim at Trump with accusations that he has funneled donor money into his own business interests. That has come to the forefront this week after daughter Ivanka Trump was interviewed by the Washington, D.C., Attorney General’s Office as part of a probe of spending by the Trump 2017 Inaugural Committee. As ABC News reported, the investigation is looking into whether they improperly funneled money to the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
