Former President Donald Trump's decreasing legal fees could mean more money becomes available to help his presidential campaign.
Trump's Save America PAC in June paid $827,000 to law firms and individual attorneys representing him and current and former aides. That marked the first time in two years the monthly total has been below $1 million, Axios reported.
The PAC has paid at least $83 million in legal fees since January 2022, FEC records show.
Heading into 2024, Trump faced the possibility of four separate criminal trials.
He was found guilty in New York of falsifying records to cover payments to an adult film star before the 2016 election. A judge then threw out the Justice Department's case accusing Trump of mishandling classified documents.
Two other trials involving charges of trying to overthrown the 2020 election overall and in Georgia are unlikely to be held before November's election.
Funds once needed to finance those courtroom battles now can be spent on the campaign, which has entered a critical phase.
Though the amount Save America is paying for lawyers is relatively small in terms of modern campaigning, every dollar counts in a competitive race, experts said.
"This is going to be a close election, and to the extent money for lawyers can now be spent on organizers, that's helpful," GOP strategist Alex Conant said.
Trump has said he should be reimbursed for the money his campaign spent against President Joe Biden, who on July 21 ended his reelection bid.
Vice President Kamala Harris' election campaign said Sunday it had raised $200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers in the week since she became the Democratic Party's presidential candidate.
Trump's campaign said in early July that it raised $331 million in the second quarter, topping the $264 million that Biden's campaign and its Democratic allies raised in the same period. Trump's campaign had $284.9 million in cash on hand at the end of June while the Democratic campaign had $240 million in cash on hand at the time.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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