The president is going to put his people in place on the committee. Major changes are in store.
Several senior Republican officials are concerned that Donald Trump’s expected takeover of the RNC will ultimately pave the way for the committee to once again cover his legal bills.
Those fears come in the aftermath of Trump endorsing a trio of officials, including his daughter-in-law, to take on top roles at the RNC. While those endorsements have been well-received by many committee members — who note that it is customary for a presidential candidate to put his imprint on the party’s main campaign apparatus — others fear a potential misallocation of party resources.
Henry Barbour, a Mississippi committeeman, said he believed “most RNC members will go along” with Trump’s vision for the committee, “unless there is a play to use RNC funds for President Trump’s legal bills.”
Oscar Brock, another committee member who has been critical of Trump, said the budget that the RNC passed two weeks ago during a meeting in Las Vegas did not allocate any money to cover Trump’s legal fees. But he acknowledged the possibility of the committee eventually amending its financial plan to do so, were Trump to ask — a measure Brock, the Tennessee committeeman and a member of the RNC budget committee, said he would not support.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for the committee to pay the legal bills for things done outside the work of the committee,” Brock said.
Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign, called fears about the RNC paying Trump’s legal bills “manufactured.” Rather than the committee covering the cost of Trump’s attorney fees, the money would be drawn from other sources, including Trump’s leadership PAC Save America and the former president himself, who has been paying some legal bills out of pocket, according to senior advisers to the campaign.
The RNC spent nearly $2 million on two legal firms working on Trump cases in 2021 and 2022 before stopping once Trump jumped into the presidential campaign. The committee will continue to have a legal fund to pay for recount efforts, lawsuits and typical party legal business.
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Inside Trump's plans for the RNC — and why some members are worried about legal bills https://t.co/z43zKd8Noq
— POLITICO (@politico) February 14, 2024
Another lens: In 2016, the most passionate Trump boosters insisted GOP needed Trump because they were sick of familial political dynasties (Bushes, Clintons) running things for their own interest. Now: Trumpers want Lara to use RNC as his personal political and legal piggy bank. https://t.co/9u4daOCjtr
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) February 15, 2024
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