Society & Politics

Do you want money to go to his reelection or to pay for his legal bills?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-pac-paid-expert-witness-testimony-ny-civil-fraud-trial-rcna128804
Trump PAC paid for expert witness testimony in N. Y. civil fraud trial

An expert witness in the $250 million civil fraud trial against Donald Trump said in court Friday that the former president’s political action committee has paid for a portion of his fees to testify on behalf of the defense.

Eli Bartov, an accounting professor at New York University, said that his $900,000 in compensation was split between the Trump Organization and Trump’s Save America PAC.


While it’s not unusual for a defendant in a trial to pay expert witness fees — in this case, the Trump Organization — the use of campaign-oriented funds underscores the large amount of money being spent by Trump’s PAC on his legal battles.

Save America spent more than $20 million on legal fees in the first six months of the year, according to campaign finance reports filed in July with the Federal Election Commission. The legal expenditures accounted for two-thirds of the political operation’s total spending in the first half of the year.

A review of FEC records shows a single payment from the Save America PAC to Bartov in April, when he was first retained as an expert, for $40,500.

In a July deposition, after the period covered by the FEC filing, Bartov said his hourly rate was $1,350 and billed monthly. He noted that the defense at that point had paid him roughly $520,000, which included two reports on Trump’s finances, and the funds came from both the Trump Organization and the PAC.

Do you want money to go to his reelection or to pay for his legal bills?
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