Post by ck4829 on Nov 25, 2021 4:59:02 GMT
'Nothing about this is normal': RNC payments to Trump attorneys irk GOP officials
A pair of payments the Republican National Committee made to a law firm representing former President Donald Trump is raising questions among former and current GOP officials about the party's priorities in a critical election year and its ability to remain neutral -- as long-standing RNC rules require -- in the 2024 presidential primary.
The separate payments to Fischetti and Malgieri LLP totalling $121,670, listed in the committee's latest filing to the Federal Election Commission, were first reported on Monday. Ronald Fischetti, a partner at the New York-based firm, was hired by the Trump Organization in April amid ongoing investigations into the real estate company's financial practices by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and state Attorney General Letitia James.
A spokesperson for the RNC said the party's executive committee recently "approved paying for certain legal expenses that relate to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump," and defended the payments as "entirely appropriate" as the party "continues assisting in fighting back against the Democrats' never ending witch hunt and attacks on Trump."
However, some RNC members and donors accused the party of running afoul of its own neutrality rules and misplacing its priorities. Some of these same officials who spoke to CNN also questioned why the party would foot the legal bills of a self-professed billionaire who was sitting on a $102 million war chest as recently as July and has previously used his various political committees to cover legal costs. According to FEC filings from August, the former President's Make America Great Again committee has paid Jones Day more than $37,000 since the beginning of the year, while his Make America Great Again super PAC has paid a combined $7.8 million to attorneys handling his lawsuits related to the 2020 election.
www.cnn.com/2021/11/24/politics/trump-rnc-payments/index.html
A pair of payments the Republican National Committee made to a law firm representing former President Donald Trump is raising questions among former and current GOP officials about the party's priorities in a critical election year and its ability to remain neutral -- as long-standing RNC rules require -- in the 2024 presidential primary.
The separate payments to Fischetti and Malgieri LLP totalling $121,670, listed in the committee's latest filing to the Federal Election Commission, were first reported on Monday. Ronald Fischetti, a partner at the New York-based firm, was hired by the Trump Organization in April amid ongoing investigations into the real estate company's financial practices by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and state Attorney General Letitia James.
A spokesperson for the RNC said the party's executive committee recently "approved paying for certain legal expenses that relate to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump," and defended the payments as "entirely appropriate" as the party "continues assisting in fighting back against the Democrats' never ending witch hunt and attacks on Trump."
However, some RNC members and donors accused the party of running afoul of its own neutrality rules and misplacing its priorities. Some of these same officials who spoke to CNN also questioned why the party would foot the legal bills of a self-professed billionaire who was sitting on a $102 million war chest as recently as July and has previously used his various political committees to cover legal costs. According to FEC filings from August, the former President's Make America Great Again committee has paid Jones Day more than $37,000 since the beginning of the year, while his Make America Great Again super PAC has paid a combined $7.8 million to attorneys handling his lawsuits related to the 2020 election.
www.cnn.com/2021/11/24/politics/trump-rnc-payments/index.html