9 months ago
Nikki Haley said she is less concerned about Donald Trump's legal troubles than how the former president planned to pay the crushing penalties for his actions.
“My biggest issue is I don’t want the RNC to become his legal defense fund. I don't want the RNC to become his piggy bank for his personal court cases. We've already seen him spend $50 million worth of campaign contributions toward his personal court cases,” Haley told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on Friday.
“Now we see him trying to get control of the RNC, so he can continue not to have to pay his own legal fees,” Haley continued.
The judge overseeing Trump’s civil fraud trial issued a $354.8 million verdict Friday, finding that Trump had orchestrated massive business fraud by falsely inflating his net worth to obtain favorable rates from banks and insurers. That verdict, along with interest and his other civil judgments, means he is on the hook for over $500 million.
Several senior Republican officials have expressed concern that Trump’s expected takeover of the RNC will ultimately pave the way for the committee to once again cover his legal bills.
This past week, Trump endorsed Michael Whatley, the head of the North Carolina state GOP, to be the RNC’s next chair. He also endorsed his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, to serve as co-chair and Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to his campaign, to serve as the RNC’s chief operating officer.
RNC members must approve the chair and co-chair positions, though with Trump’s endorsements, the election will likely be a formality.
The RNC previously spent nearly $2 million on two legal firms working on Trump cases in 2021 and 2022, but stopped once Trump jumped into the presidential campaign.
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