By Vaughn Hillyard and Megan Lebowitz -
NBC News
A portion of donations to the newly formed Trump 47 joint fundraising committee will go to the
Save America
Political Action Committee (PAC) , which is often used to cover former President Donald Trump's legal bills, according to a contribution form of donations obtained by NBC News.
The practice deviates from typical campaign donation trajectories.
Before general elections, donations to joint fundraising committees traditionally went to candidates' campaigns, the national party and state parties, not PACs.
But this year, donations to Trump 47 will go first to the Trump campaign, followed by the
Save America PAC
once the donor reaches the maximum campaign contribution limit.
Former President Donald Trump at a campaign event in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. Jeff Dean / AP
After an individual's donations reach the limit for both the campaign and the
Save America PAC
, the Republican National Committee (RNC) will receive the funds, followed by the individual state Republican parties.
The maximum annual contribution to a PAC is $5,000.
The contribution limit means that only a fraction of contributions from major donors would go toward legal bills, while a larger percentage of money from small-dollar donors would be sent to cover legal bills,
rather than being funneled to the RNC
.
“
Save America
also pays for a very active and robust post-presidential office and other expenses unrelated to fighting illegal witch hunts.”
perpetrated by corrupt Joe Biden,” Trump campaign communications director Steven Cheung said in a statement.
“The Trump campaign, the RNC and the GOP [Republican Party] state parties ultimately receive the overwhelming majority of funds raised through the Trump 47 Committee,” he added, noting that only a small fraction of the maximum contribution An individual donor's total goes to
Save America
.
Trump faces four criminal cases over allegations that he conspired to defraud the United States by
attempting to subvert the results of the 2020 presidential election
;
He withheld classified documents and falsified business records related to hush money payments.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in all cases.
He also faces a number of civil legal problems.
Both he and his company were sentenced in New York to pay $464 million for fraud.
Trump was sentenced to pay $83 million for defamation to E. Jean Carroll.
The former president has had difficulty raising funds to post bail for the civil penalty for fraud, and his lawyers have argued that securing bail of nearly $500 million before next week's deadline is “virtually impossible.”