Trump's PAC Spent $16 Million On Legal Fees In 2022 Amid His Many Lawsuits

Former President Donald Trump's leadership PAC spent over $16 million on legal fees in 2022, according to a report.

A large sum of the money spent by Trump's Save America PAC, roughly $12.5 million, was largely geared toward 16 law firms that represented Trump, his businesses and family interests on multiple criminal inquiries and lawsuits in 2021 and 2022, CNN reported, citing a tally of the leadership PAC's distributions through the end of December.

Specifically, $2 million went to Trump's defense attorney Alina Habba, who represented him in a New York State attorney general probe and other lawsuits, including the former president's mishandling of classified documents from his time in the White House.

At least $1.4 million was paid to the firm van der Veen, Hartshorn and Levin. Lawyers for the firm represented Trump in his 2021 impeachment case and the Trump Organization entity in New York, the report said, citing federal election records.

The law firms Evan Corcoran and James Trusty, which serve as Trump's primary criminal defense attorneys, each received $1.2 million from the Save America PAC.

The PAC also paid other law firms that represented Trump's former chief of staff Mark Meadows and his White House speechwriter staffers. Smaller law firms that represented key witnesses in investigations related to Trump also received payments.

In total, the Save America PAC paid nearly 30 law firms at least $100,000 each.

Prior to winning the presidency in 2016, Trump developed a reputation in New York City for refusing to pay his bills to service providers and contractors, including lawyers, and argued that people working for him got free advertising.

Apart from covering Trump's legal fees, the Save America PAC has also previously been reported to have paid former first lady Melania Trump's stylist Herve Pierre Braillard $132,000 in 2022 for "strategy consulting," Federal Election Commission filings showed.

The filings followed another previous report in August 2022 where Trump's leadership PAC was said to have paid Braillard $60,000 for "strategy consulting."

The Save America PAC was established in November 2020, days after Trump's electoral defeat against President Joe Biden.