Trump forced both his Current and Former Campaign Managers to take Pay Cuts, but he still funneled another Quarter-Million Dollars into his own cash registers.
Even as his Reelection Campaign lost a once Dominating Fundraising Advantage, new Filings with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) show that Trump’s Campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) spent another $203,000 at his Hotel a few Blocks from the White House and another $37,542 to Rent Space at his Trump Tower in Manhattan, although the Campaign is based at a High-Rise in Arlington, Virginia. Total Reported Payments in August to the President’s Businesses amounted to $251,409.
Since he took Office in January 2017, the Political Committees under Trump’s Control have spent a Total of $7,231,392 at Trump’s various Businesses, according to FEC Records.
“Everybody thought when Trump opened his reelection campaign the day of his inauguration that he would have a huge financial advantage,” said Brendan Fischer, a Lawyer with the Watchdog Group Campaign Legal Center. “It seems like a lot of that money is gone.”
Bradley Parscale, the previous Campaign Manager whose Consulting Firm had been receiving $47,797 a Month from the Trump Campaign for the past year, saw that figure drop to $32,797 in August. It was Unclear from the FEC Filings whether that was a Reduction in Pay only to himself or if the $15,000 was the Cumulative Cut for a Number of Individuals.
Parscale Confirmed that $15,000-a-month Payments each to the Girlfriend of the eldest Trump Son and the Wife of the Middle Son were going through his Private Firm, rather than through the Campaign, for their Work. “I can pay them however I want to pay them,” he said at the time.
Fischer’s Group filed a Complaint with the FEC in July, accusing the Trump Campaign of Violating Election Law by using Private Firms like Parscale’s to Hide the Amounts and Purposes of Payments of the Campaign.
The Group doesn’t know why the Campaign is trying to Obscure these Payments in particular. “There’s so much money that is not being disclosed that there could be multiple reasons,” Fisher said. “The point of the law’s transparency is to prevent us from having to ask these questions.”
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
