Trump nearly doubles fundraising in second quarter amid mounting legal challenges

(NEW YORK) — Former President Donald Trump’s joint fundraising team raked in more than $35 million between March and June of this year, a campaign spokesperson told ABC News.

The second quarter haul is nearly double Team Trump’s first quarter total of $18.8 million from earlier this year, a sign that the former president’s fundraising operation is ramping up amid his mounting legal challenges, including the indictment in the Manhattan district attorney’s case and the federal indictment in Florida related to his handling of classified documents. Trump denied wrongdoing in both cases, and he has entered a plea of not guilty to all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records brought in the Manhattan case.

Trump has used both his indictments as a major fundraising boost, headlining a fundraiser at his Bedminster golf club immediately after his first court appearance for the federal case in Miami last month. His team also fired off numerous fundraising emails urging supporters to donate to him.

The Bedminster fundraiser brought him more than $2 million in donations, and in less than a week, the Trump campaign raised $7 million from the federal indictment. Similarly, Trump’s team raised $7 million within three days of the news of his Manhattan indictment dropping.

The average donation to his campaign was $34, the spokesperson told ABC News, adding “It’s evident that grassroots Republicans overwhelming stand with President Trump.”

The second-quarter fundraising figures were first reported by Politico.

Donations to Trump’s joint fundraising operation are split between his presidential campaign and his leadership PAC, Save America PAC, with 90% of each donation going to the campaign and 10% going to the PAC. The joint fundraising committee can receive up to $11,600 in donation per person under the federal campaign finance limit. As a leadership PAC, Save America’s funds cannot be used to support Trump in an election but can be used to pay his and his allies’ legal bills.

As first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by ABC News, the joint fundraising committee in recent months changed its allocation ratio to direct a larger portion of each donation to the PAC as Trump’s legal battles intensified, whereas previously, 99% of each donation for the joint fundraising committee was going to the campaign committee and 1% to the PAC.

Fundraising has long been one of Trump’s biggest weapons against various legal challenges he’s faced, with his presidential campaign and the Republican National Committee paying millions of dollars in legal fees to law firms representing Trump and his allies in legal battles spanning from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the 2016 election to two impeachment proceedings.

Most recently, Save America has become one of the main vehicles for paying Trump’s legal bills, including more than a million dollars to a firm representing Trump in a New York attorney general investigation into his family business, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to law firms representing Trump’s allies subpoenaed by the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.

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