Trump campaign's financial woes

[lpetrich]

I'm catching up on this, I must concede - it was reported back in Sep 7

Death Star blows itself up: Trump ran his campaign finances like his businesses — into the ground | Salon.com

On Monday night, the New York Times published an article so satisfying that it felt almost pornographic, about how the Trump campaign has burned through most of that Death Star cash, with little to show for it — except, of course, when it comes to the bank accounts of the Trump family and their ancillary leeches.

It appears much of the problem was the way that Trump himself, along with Parscale, the Trump's family and other associates, treated the campaign as a personal piggybank. Trump paid his family's enormous legal bills with campaign cash. Money was routinely spent to fluff Trump's ego, as with the reported $11 million spent on Super Bowl ads. Nearly a third of the cash was routed through "a single limited liability company linked to Trump campaign officials." The partners of Trump's two sons are literally on the payroll. Trump's own incompetence is also a factor, leading to massive losses as he impulsively switched the Republican convention from Charlotte to Jacksonville to and then, effectively, to Washington. And the campaign spent far more money on fundraising than is typical, suggesting that Parscale was more interested in bragging about his Death Star than making it run efficiently.

This is with a billion dollars of campaign funds.

How Trump’s Billion-Dollar Campaign Lost Its Cash Advantage - The New York Times

Money was supposed to have been one of the great advantages of incumbency for President Trump, much as it was for President Barack Obama in 2012 and George W. Bush in 2004. After getting outspent in 2016, Mr. Trump filed for re-election on the day of his inauguration — earlier than any other modern president — betting that the head start would deliver him a decisive financial advantage this year.

It seemed to have worked. His rival, Joseph R. Biden Jr., was relatively broke when he emerged as the presumptive Democratic nominee this spring, and Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee had a nearly $200 million cash advantage.

Five months later, Mr. Trump’s financial supremacy has evaporated. Of the $1.1 billon his campaign and the party raised from the beginning of 2019 through July, more than $800 million has already been spent. Now some people inside the campaign are forecasting what was once unthinkable: a cash crunch with less than 60 days until the election, according to Republican officials briefed on the matter.

7 details from new exposé on financial turmoil — and bitter backstabbing — in the Trump campaign | Salon.com

1. The big takeaway: Trump has poured $800 million down the drain with little to show for it
2. Parscale, meanwhile, is trying to spread the blame around
3. Trump is a big part of the problem
4. The campaign spent nearly half of its spending on more fundraising
5. A lot of money is covering campaign-adjacent legal bills
6. The pandemic — and Trump's refusal to adapt to it — has repeatedly thrown a wrench into the gears
7. Much of the money remains mysteriously unaccounted for

So their corruption is doing them in.

 

[lpetrich]

How Trump Draws on Campaign Funds to Pay Legal Bills - The New York Times

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.

Trump has spent about $58.4 on litigation, as opposed to Barack Obama's $10.7 million. George Bush II also spent much less.

 

[James Brown]

At this point in the game, what would a contribution to either candidate's campaign actually accomplish?

 

[Shadowy Man]

New York Times? Fake news, obviously.