President Donald Trump‘s election “defense fund” is telling supporters that new contributions will be allocated for lawsuits to contest the election results, but in reality, most of the funds will go for other purposes.
Trump so far has refused to concede the November election as his campaign churns out a nonstop stream of “election defense fund” email blasts and online advertisements. The ads, most appearing in black, bold and uppercase fonts, continue to be blasted out to potential donors’ phones and email boxes despite President-elect Joe Biden winning by the estimation of every major news organization.
The misleading ads hound supporters for financial contributions, but most donations will be allocated to other areas such as reducing Trump’s campaign debt.
Fine print on the ads indicates that much of the money donated will go for lowering campaign debt, replenishing the Republican National Committee bank accounts and helping get Save America, a new political action committee that the president has founded, off the ground.
“This is a slush fund. That’s the bottom line,” said Paul S. Ryan, a longtime campaign finance attorney with the good government group Common Cause. “Trump may just continue to string out this meritless litigation in order to fleece his own supporters of their money and use it in the coming years to pad his own lifestyle while teasing a 2024 candidacy.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Biden campaign have utilized a much different approach, using new donations strictly for its legal defense fund.
