Lies, Incompetence, and Corruption

Donald Trump stated on February 1, 2016 in a campaign rally in Iowa: "I'm self-funding my own campaign." President Donald Trump wouldn’t be beholden to special interests, he says.  Why? Because billionaires aren’t paying for his campaign.  "You know a lot of times you see these really dumb deals," he said of current political leaders at an Iowa rally Feb. 1. "And you'll say that's dumb. It doesn't make sense. But then when you think, it does make sense because these politicians are representing interests, whether it's a country or a company, where doing the stupid deals actually makes sense only for that politician and for that company or country."  In contrast, Trump said, "I'm self-funding my own campaign. It's my money."  Trump talks about self-funding his own campaign almost every day, it seems.  Trump’s campaign brought in about $19.4 million by the end of 2015. Trump contributed nearly $13 million of that himself. Most of the remainder comes from individual contributions, which federal law caps at $2,700 per candidate per election.  Trump is contributing much, much more of his personal wealth than any other presidential contender. The only other candidates contributing to their own campaigns are: retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has so far reported contributing $25,000; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at $368,147; and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at $388,720.  Although a significant portion of his campaign funds, about 34 percent, come from individual contributions, Trump doesn’t appear to be actively soliciting these donations with high-profile fundraising events. The Sunlight Foundation, which advocates for transparency in money in politics, tracks political fundraisers with its Political Party Time tool. It has no record of any events to benefit Trump.  Trump also has minimal political action committee support compared with his opponents. PACs have raised just $1.8 million on Trump’s behalf, which is the lowest among all candidates still in the race, with the exception of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Republican former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, whose PAC fundraising for both candidates remains at $0.  Trump seems to be friendly with at least one PAC created in his honor. He attended a New York fundraiser hosted by the Make America Great Again PAC in July and said he’s grateful for their support, reported Politico. The group also received a $100,000 donation from the in-laws of Trump’s daughter Ivanka.  The PAC shut down in October following allegations that it coordinated with Trump’s campaign.  Of course, that was then.  Now is a different story, however. Donald Trump has not given a dime to his current reelection campaign, opting instead to fund the entire effort with his donors’ money. His business, meanwhile, has continued to charge the campaign for things like food, lodging and rent. The result is that $2.2 million of contributions from other people has turned into $2.2 million of revenue for Trump. And that’s just counting the money flowing directly through the president’s campaign. His reelection apparatus also includes two joint fundraising committees, which work with the Republican Party to raise money for Trump. Since he took office, those entities—named Trump Victory and the Trump Make America Great Again Committee—have funneled another $2.3 million into the president’s private business, according to a review of Federal Election Commission records. Then there’s the Republican National Committee, which has spent an additional $2.4 million at Trump properties. Add it all up, and the president, working in concert with the party he leads, has helped push $6.9 million into his businesses since taking office.  Then here is now!!!  President Trump was proudly litigious before his victory in 2016 and has remained so in the White House. But one big factor has changed: He has drawn on campaign donations as a piggy bank for his legal expenses to a degree far greater than any of his predecessors.  In New York, Mr. Trump dispatched a team of lawyers to seek damages of more than $1 million from a former campaign worker after she claimed she had been the target of sexual discrimination and harassment by another aide. The lawyers have been paid $1.5 million by the Trump campaign for work on the case and others related to the president.  In Washington, Mr. Trump and his campaign affiliates hired lawyers to assist members of his staff and family — including a onetime bodyguard, his oldest son and his son-in-law — as they were pulled into investigations related to Russia and Ukraine. The Republican National Committee has paid at least $2.5 million in legal bills to the firms that did this and other legal work.  In California, Mr. Trump sued to block a law that would have forced him to release his taxes if he wanted to run for re-election. The Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have paid the law firm handling this case, among others, $1.8 million.  Mr. Trump’s tendency to turn to the courts — and the legal issues that have stemmed from norm-breaking characteristics of his presidency — helps explain how he and his affiliated political entities have spent at least $58.4 million in donations on legal and compliance work since 2015, according to a tally by The New York Times and the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute.  The spending on behalf of Mr. Trump covers not only legal work that would be relatively routine for any president or candidate and some of the costs related to the Russia inquiry and his impeachment, but also cases in which he has a personal stake, including attempts to enforce nondisclosure agreements and protect his business interests.  Many of the bills being paid by donors to Mr. Trump and his party have come from the Republican National Committee’s “recount account.” It is a special fund created after 2014 when Congress — at the request of campaign finance lawyers and leaders of both parties — allowed much larger contributions by individuals to the political parties, totaling $106,500 per person, compared with the normal $2,800 limit.  It is impossible to know based on Federal Election Commission filings how much of the $58.4 million in total legal bills went to routine legal work. Payments from the political committees to lawyers and law firms are not itemized by case, so the filings do not break down how much donor money went to pay for specific legal actions. A spokesman for the Trump family would not say how much Mr. Trump had paid out of his own pocket or his company’s in legal fights, including Mr. Trump’s attempt to block access to his personal financial records.  It is also hard to differentiate between legal clashes the president has initiated and those in which he is the target of opponents. And a growing portion of the overall legal spending has come recently as his campaign has stepped up its efforts to battle Democratic actions to make voting easier.  But an examination of spending by his various campaign arms documents how the intermingling of his presidency, business interests, campaigns, defense against the Russia investigation, impeachment and eagerness to penalize rivals have led to millions of dollars in donor money going to help bankroll litigation.  Drawing on donations to pay many legal expenses is permitted by campaign finance law. But as he has done with other aspects of the presidency, Mr. Trump has redefined the practice in ways that have unsettled even some Republicans, who point in particular to examples like his efforts to enforce nondisclosure agreements with former staff members.  All in all, there is only one conclusion one can draw from all of this...Donald Trump is the most corrupt President in the Nation’s history and a vote to re-elect him to the office of President is a vote for lies, incompetence, and massive corruption.