A member of the Republican National Committee (RNC) said it would be “totally misleading” for the committee to spend campaign funds on any candidate’s legal fees, including former President Trump.
Henry Barbour, an RNC member from Mississippi, floated two draft resolutions over the weekend that would prevent the committee from paying Trump’s legal fees and ensure it stays neutral in the GOP primary. He said in a Monday interview with CNN’s Dana Bash on “Inside Politics” that the RNC should use its funding to help win elections, not pay off anyone’s outside fees.
“Well, I certainly am willing to take a stand that may not be popular with some right now. The RNC has one job, Dana, and that’s to win elections. And we should spend our finite resources on political operations and actually winning elections, and paying any candidate’s legal fees — or frankly, any other outside fees or expenses — is not the RNC’s job,” Barbour said.
Barbour, a longtime member of the RNC, said it would be “misleading” to ask voters to contribute to a campaign fund and then for the RNC to spend it on legal bills.
“When the RNC sends out solicitation, it says, ‘Hey, do you want to take the White House back and get the country back on track?’ Donors send in their $28 or whatever it is … it would be totally misleading to take that money and then go and spend it with some big fat law firm, you know, legal fees for stuff that has nothing to do with winning the election,” Barbour said.
He also said the Trump campaign is “jumping ahead of the game” in saying that the GOP primary is over when only four states have voted. Barbour’s remark came when asked about a statement given to CNN over the weekend by Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita, who said it is the RNC’s “sole responsibility to defeat Joe Biden and win back the White House.”
“And a lot of the Trump campaign is very talented. So I appreciate that. But they need to respect the rules of the RNC that number one, we have to be neutral, and number two, we should spend our resources on winning elections and not on legal fees for candidates of any type,” Barbour said.
……..
- Discussion
-
A member of the Republican National Committee (RNC) said it would be “totally misleading” for the committee to spend campaign funds on any candidate’s legal fees, including former President Trump https://t.co/K4B0jvA2hK pic.twitter.com/ZqOQZnLh5j
— The Hill (@thehill) February 26, 2024
RNC member Henry Barbour has submitted two resolutions for the party’s members to consider that would block the party from paying the legal bills of any candidate and require the party to be neutral until a candidate gets 1,215 delegates, per drafts. pic.twitter.com/MN8xcKQTOa
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 24, 2024
NEWS: The RNC could vote on resolutions to prohibit GOP from covering millions in legal bills being racked up by TRUMP & would bar the party from treating him as its presumptive nominee before he secures the requisite convention delegates. https://t.co/dyNTiTr5RM @thedispatch
— David M. Drucker (@DavidMDrucker) February 24, 2024
Of course. Again, every downballot candidate needs to pay very close attention. The RNC is not going to spend a dime on you. It doesn’t matter what Chris LaCivita has said about not using RNC money for Trump’s legal bills. They will and you’ll need to finance everything alone. https://t.co/PBar9aNujf
— Liz Mair (@LizMair) February 25, 2024
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.