Christopher Kise (from left), Clifford Robert and Alina Habba, attorneys representing the Trump Organization, sit in New York Supreme Court on Oct. 10 in New York.

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s political fundraising machine is raking in donations at a prodigious pace, but he’s spending tens of millions of dollars he’s bringing in to pay attorneys to deal with the escalating costs of the various criminal cases he is contending with as he moves further into the 2024 presidential campaign.

Campaign finance experts say using the money to pay for lawyers in cases not related to the campaign or officeholder duties appears to conflict with a federal ban on the personal use of donor dollars, even though the Federal Election Commission has ruled the prohibition doesn’t apply to so-called leadership political action committees. The massive amount of money going to lawyers also amplifies the urgency Trump is feeling to raise money both for the campaign and his legal defense, which is unfolding on multiple fronts.

Trump’s Save America political action committee has paid nearly $37 million to more than 60 law firms and individual attorneys since January 2022, Federal Election Commission records show. That amounts to more than half of the PAC’s total expenditures, according to an Associated Press analysis of campaign finance filings, and represents a staggering sum compared to other political organizations.

During the first half of 2023, Save America spent more on legal-related costs, over $20 million, than any other political committee that discloses to the FEC – more than the Republican National Committee, Democratic National Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee spent during that period combined.

The bulk of the Trump PAC money went to law firms that have defended Trump against a series of criminal charges or in civil lawsuits. Other attorneys paid with the contributions worked on behalf of Trump’s businesses, his children, former White House aides and employees of the ex-president.

Footing the legal bills for co-defendants and potential witnesses raises additional thorny ethical questions: Will the attorneys paid by Trump be more loyal to him or their clients? If clients feel indebted to Trump, will they be less forthcoming about what they know?

“The way these cases get built is you persuade the little fish to testify against the big fish,” said Randall Eliason, a former federal prosecutor and criminal law professor at George Washington University Law School. “Well, if the little fish’s lawyer is being paid by the big fish that’s less likely to happen potentially.”

The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s status as the first former president to be criminally indicted, his run for another White House term while defending himself in multiple court cases, and the loads of donor money flowing to lawyers are a trifecta unparalleled in U.S. history. Trump has denied any wrongdoing and he and his allies have blasted the long list of felony charges and lawsuits as political attacks meant to derail his 2024 campaign.

But the legal jeopardy has become his most potent fundraising tool. Trump’s claim that he’s the victim of a corrupt justice system determined to silence him and his supporters is a primary plank in his platform. And he’s turned the courthouse into a campaign stage to pound that message and fire up his supporters.

As Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York got underway earlier this month, he used the heavy media coverage as a megaphone. To the cameras stationed in the courthouse hallways, Trump denounced state Attorney General Letitia James’ case as “a witch hunt and a disgrace.” He and his company are accused by James of inflating the value of his real estate empire to deceive banks and insurers.

Trump also turned his surrender in Georgia on charges that he illegally schemed to overturn the 2020 election in the state into a fundraising bonanza. His presidential campaign said it has sold about 47,000 T-shirts, coffee mugs and posters featuring the mug shot taken of the former president when he was booked in August at the at the Fulton County Jail. Overall, the campaign said it raised $9.4 million in the days following the photo’s release. That money is earmarked for political and campaign activities, not for legal expenses, according to the campaign.

To help pay the legal fees, Trump’s political operation has also moved millions from his super PAC, MAGA Inc.

The FEC data reveal a pattern that has developed since Trump left office: he gets into legal trouble and responds forcefully, donations from his backers spike, and then millions of those dollars flow to the army of attorneys defending him and others caught up in the drama.

The second and third quarters of 2022 illustrate the cycle. Save America spent about $1.5 million on legal fees in the second quarter. During the third, payments to attorneys grew to more than $6 million. The surge coincided with the FBI’s court-authorized search for top-secret documents he allegedly hoarded at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, which federal prosecutors say violated laws meant to keep classified information secret.

“The indictments are probably not expanding his coalition, but it’s certainly giving it greater intensity,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University. “So people who are already supporting Donald Trump are probably going to dig in their heels and support him more.”

That’s true of at least some donors, who say they have no problem with their money going to lawyers.

“First thing I thought: What a crock,” said Robert Lee, a motorcycle repairman in Boca Raton, Florida, who made a small donation after the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago search. “None of this ever happened to anyone who wasn’t Trump.”

Asked about a presidential campaign that spends so much on legal expenses, Lee said, “That would be fine with me. I see nothing wrong with that.”