Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty Guilty

[The Dog 43,482]

oh wow what do we have here?

Spoiler

Trump’s New Legal Bills Are Hiding an $8 Million Mystery

 

 

 

Photo Illustration by Thomas Levinson/The Daily Beast/Getty

Donald Trump’s legal payroll is easily the largest and most diverse of any political figure in modern U.S. history. But while most of the attorneys that Trump’s various fundraising committees have paid over the years are a matter of public record, one of the top recipients still poses a mystery—with more than $8 million in legal costs going to an unknown firm, or firms, through what appears to be a corporate intermediary.

Legal experts told The Daily Beast that the arrangement masks the true recipients of a significant amount of Trump’s legal bills, depriving the public of that information while possibly running afoul of federal law. And the unprecedented structure of those payments, the experts said, potentially violates the ban on corporate contributions.

For the last 15 months, five of Trump’s political committees, including his 2024 campaign, have paid about $8 million in combined legal costs to a curious recipient: Red Curve Solutions, the firm that handles their political accounting.

That total makes Red Curve, a prominent Republican compliance firm, the largest single recipient of Trump’s legal payouts since he left office, receiving more money than die-hard defenders like Alina Habba, Stefan Passantino, John Lauro, and Jesse Binnall.

The Red Curve payments, however, are not described as being for legal services that the firm provides directly. In fact, Red Curve’s website does not advertise legal services, and Federal Election Commission filings show that only one other federal committee has ever paid the company for legal work—and that was more than a decade ago.

Instead, the payments are described in FEC filings as “reimbursements” for legal expenses and fees. The filings suggest that Red Curve is at least, in part, functioning as a financial hub for a legal expense cost-sharing agreement between these various Trump committees.

The payment descriptions suggest that since December 2022, when the arrangement seemed to begin, Red Curve has been fronting legal costs out of its corporate account, with Trump’s committees repaying the company later. According to campaign finance experts, this setup appears to flout federal rules requiring the disclosure of vendors, with Red Curve’s advance payments also raising the prospect of corporate in-kind contributions.

Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance specialist and deputy executive director of Documented, said the reimbursement arrangement deprives the public of critical information and appears to violate federal law.

“This appears illegal for two reasons,” Fischer told The Daily Beast, citing potential violations of disclosure requirements and the corporate contribution ban.

“When a campaign makes a reimbursement, it must report the payment to the person being reimbursed, and also itemize the underlying vendor,” Fischer said, pointing to FEC rules on candidate disclosures. The Red Curve reimbursements don’t provide that itemization, and it’s unclear which lawyers Trump is ultimately paying through the scheme.

“The second,” Fischer continued, “is that these transactions may have resulted in Red Curve making illegal corporate contributions to Trump’s committees.”

He explained that the FEC treats advances on payments as in-kind contributions, which are subject to contribution limits and other restrictions, depending on the type of committee. None of the Trump committees can accept donations from corporate entities.

“Red Curve is a corporation, so cannot lawfully make an advance to Trump’s hard money committees, even if later reimbursed,” Fischer said.

 

 

Former president Donald Trump speaks to the media as he exits the courtroom for the day at Manhattan Criminal Court.

 

Photo by Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images

The Daily Beast sent questions to Red Curve and a Trump campaign spokesperson, but did not receive a reply.

One of Trump’s committees appears to have made disproportionate Red Curve payments—Trump’s old campaign committee, which he converted to “Make America Great Again PAC” upon leaving office. Since December 2022, Red Curve legal reimbursements have comprised more than $5.1 million of roughly $10.3 million in MAGA PAC’s legal costs.

The payment arrangement is also ongoing. Nearly $900,000 of Trump’s legal expenses this year have gone to Red Curve, with more than $390,000 reimbursed last month alone.

The opacity is of particular concern in this election, where Trump’s legal woes are front and center, as is the money that those cases have sucked up—nearly $100 million in attorney costs so far, which Trump donors have footed at the expense of bulking up a political war chest for his campaign and the Republican Party.

Notably, Trump has used those donations not just to pay for his own representation, but also more controversially to provide lawyers for an array of witnesses and co-defendants. The Red Curve legal reimbursements would be a convenient way to conceal the names of unknown firms representing Trump or his allies.

Regardless of who benefits from the services, however, the costs are steep. The $8 million in Red Curve reimbursements represent the largest amount that Trump’s committees have paid to any single law firm since he left office.

One potential exception, however, is former Florida solicitor general Christopher Kise, whose personal firm’s roughly $5.8 million from Trump is beefed up with the $3 million retainer that Kise reportedly negotiated through another firm when he agreed to take Trump as a client in September 2022.

Kise—who represented Trump in his failed New York civil fraud battle and currently anchors the Mar-a-Lago documents defense team—has also worked at another firm with significant Trump overlap: Continental PLLC. Continental has separately racked up about $6.1 million from Trump since he left office, and the firm belonging to Trump’s New York fraud defender, Clifford Roberts, has received about $7.7 million in that time frame. (The firm is currently owed another $816,000.)

While the motivation behind the opaque payments is unknown, it’s clear that there is a cost-splitting arrangement between Trump’s various fundraising committees.

FEC records show that pairs of Trump PACs frequently reimburse Red Curve on the same date, in the same amounts. And while many of the payments are identical twins—exact dollar figures, down to the penny, on the same day—there are also a number that are fraternal twins, where the payments are nearly the same and made within a few days of each other.

For instance, on March 14, 2023, Trump’s “Save America” leadership PAC—the committee that doubles as his personal legal slush fund—reported a “reimbursement for legal expenses” to Red Curve in the amount of $45,867.44. Two days later, another Trump PAC, called “Make America Great Again PAC” (MAGA PAC), reported paying Red Curve the exact same amount, with the same description: $45,867.44, for “reimbursement for legal expenses.”

In all, The Daily Beast identified at least 21 pairs of these identical or near-identical reimbursements from different Trump committees, made within close proximity of each other.

That’s not always the case. The same day that MAGA PAC made the above matching payment—March 16, 2023—it also reported an additional two Red Curve reimbursements. These were described as “reimbursement for legal fees” and totaled nearly $910,000, but they don’t appear to have any immediately clear correlation to other Red Curve payments at the time.

Campaign finance experts agreed that the pattern suggests these Trump committees, for some unknown reason, have been sharing legal costs. But the payment reports don’t identify the entity or entities that Red Curve initially paid to perform the legal work on Trump’s behalf. And that, the experts said, could pose a problem—because it hides the true vendor and recipient of the funds.

Aaron Scherb, senior director of legislative affairs at good government watchdog Common Cause, agreed with Fischer’s assessment that the payments may violate reporting and corporate contribution laws.

“By a legal sleight of hand, it appears that Trump world is trying to hide the true recipients of these donations,” Scherb told The Daily Beast. He noted that corporations aren’t allowed to donate directly to these committees, and that corporations can’t reimburse contributors. The payments, Scherb said, must be “thoroughly investigated to ensure that all entities and individuals are complying with the law.”

“Shenanigans like this are reason #1000 why we need the DISCLOSE Act, which Senate Republicans have blocked at least five times in the last several years,” Scherb added.

Jordan Libowitz, communications director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, also told The Daily Beast that the rules are clear about this reporting requirement.

“If it’s going to a vendor, that vendor needs to be disclosed,” Libowitz said. “You can’t pass the money through to hide the eventual destination.”

The 2020 Trump campaign pushed this rule to the absolute limit—potentially even beyond. That campaign enlisted a pass-through scheme that routed vendor payments through a single shell company, obscuring the recipients of nearly $800 million. And while the FEC commissioners issued a bipartisan ruling in 2022 against Hillary Clinton’s campaign for a hidden vendor maneuver, the FEC’s Republican commissioners let the Trump campaign slip the hook one month later.

The Red Curve arrangement, however, has no other parallel in FEC records.

Of the 252 legal reimbursement payments in FEC historical data, 118 of them—nearly half—have come from the Trump committees to Red Curve in the last 15 months. Combined, the 134 non-Trump reimbursements account for less than $550,000. Meanwhile, the Trump reimbursements add up to nearly 15 times that amount—just over $8 million.

While Red Curve is one of the preeminent compliance firms for GOP campaigns and PACs, the firm doesn’t have a public history of legal work. Its website promotes a number of services—including accounting, data management, budget analysis, and payroll and tax solutions—but not legal counsel. Again, this is backed up in FEC records, which show that, before the Trump arrangement, Red Curve only received legal payments from one other federal committee—the Republican National Committee—a run of small monthly expenses back in 2012 and 2013.

As for Trumpworld, Red Curve is the only entity that Trump groups have ever reimbursed for legal fees—with one exception: a $17,318 payment on Feb. 11, 2022, to one “Shelly Lipkis,” who staffs a company called “New Age Consulting” that does not appear to be a law firm.

It’s unclear why these Trump committees chose Red Curve as the clearinghouse for such a substantial portion of legal spending—nearly 9 percent of Trump’s legal expenses since he left office. The timing, however, aligns with a few key and potentially relevant political events.

According to The Daily Beast’s analysis of FEC data, the arrangement started on Dec. 7, 2022. On that date, Red Curve received its first legal reimbursements from three of Trump’s political committees—“Save America” (his leadership PAC), “Make America Great Again PAC” (his old 2020 campaign committee), and “Trump Save America” (a joint committee between Save America and Trump’s 2024 campaign).

That day, all three committees reported two Red Curve payments, one for $10,000 and one for $25,000, described as “reimbursement for legal fees.” (One payment, from MAGA PAC, was $10,027.67.) Nine days later, those three committees were joined by “Trump Make America Great Again”—another joint group, this one featuring Save America, Trump’s old campaign, and the Republican National Committee—which also paid a flat $25,000. Then, in January and February, the first three committees made another cluster of three $10,000 payments.

The flat amounts suggest that these first expenses relate to initial retainer fees. None of the committees have paid Red Curve a flat amount since then.

At the time, Trumpworld was reeling from a number of legal battles.

First, the House’s Jan. 6 Committee was wrapping up its investigation into the Capitol attack, preparing to release its report along with criminal referrals. The report revealed, among other things, that star witness Cassidy Hutchinson had testified that her Trump-provided lawyer, Stefan Passantino, pressured her to risk contempt charges in order to protect the former president.

However, Trump committee payments to Passantino’s firm, Elections LLC, weren’t interrupted. (Last month, a legal ethics panel dismissed a complaintagainst Passantino in the matter.)

But the Jan. 6 Committee did refer another lawyer for prosecution, asking the Justice Department to bring charges against John Eastman, the fringe constitutional lawyer who helped craft the bogus legal theory that Trump and his allies leaned on to justify their attempts to overturn the Electoral College.

Also notable is the fact that the Red Curve arrangement took hold less than a month after Trump announced his 2024 candidacy.

That official declaration triggered federal regulations that forced Trump’s team to rearrange its flotilla of committees and joint groups, cutting some ties while drawing new ones. Most specifically, Trump’s status as an active candidate meant that his “Trump Save America” joint fundraising committee had to cut loose Trump’s old campaign—by that time known as MAGA PAC—in order to add his new 2024 campaign.

To that point, there is one other Trump outlier—his 2024 campaign committee, which reported just two Red Curve reimbursements. Both payments came in July 2023—in the weeks between Trump’s first federal indictment in the stolen documents case and the second superseding indictment. The payments totaled $28,275.

As it turns out, legal costs have been particularly devastating to the hamstrung MAGA PAC. The committee would have gone belly-up last month if Save America—itself buckling under the weight of Trump’s army of lawyers—hadn’t transferred a total $780,000 MAGA PAC’s way, a rare scoop out of Trump’s precious personal legal stash.

Of that amount, MAGA PAC put more than $698,000 towards legal costs. Nearly $275,000 went to reimburse Red Curve.

ETA a tl;dr quote:

Quote

For the last 15 months, five of Trump’s political committees, including his 2024 campaign, have paid about $8 million in combined legal costs to a curious recipient: Red Curve Solutions, the firm that handles their political accounting.

That total makes Red Curve, a prominent Republican compliance firm, the largest single recipient of Trump’s legal payouts since he left office, receiving more money than die-hard defenders like Alina Habba, Stefan Passantino, John Lauro, and Jesse Binnall.

The Red Curve payments, however, are not described as being for legal services that the firm provides directly. In fact, Red Curve’s website does not advertise legal services, and Federal Election Commission filings show that only one other federal committee has ever paid the company for legal work—and that was more than a decade ago.

Instead, the payments are described in FEC filings as “reimbursements” for legal expenses and fees. The filings suggest that Red Curve is at least, in part, functioning as a financial hub for a legal expense cost-sharing agreement between these various Trump committees.

 

Edited April 24 by The Dog

[GenXer 2,556]

Experts say it’s probably illegal. But The Legal Scholars say it’s totally legal and totally cool. 

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11,560]

he doesn't have $8MM extra in legal expenses and end up with the morons he has representing him.

[4th&Five 41,242]

45 minutes ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

2 am this morning:

 

 

And after he woke up this morning:

 

 

[Red Five 40,449]

"Refuses to terminate this case."

Why, how dare he?? 

[kevwun 15,336]

3 minutes ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

he doesn't have $8MM extra in legal expenses and end up with the morons he has representing him.

One of his kids probably has a law degree from American Samoa and he's shuffling money to the family.

[South Austin 51,681]

2 minutes ago, kevwun said:

One of his kids probably has a law degree from American Samoa and he's shuffling money to the family.

Those are some serious Polynesian ties.

[TexArcher 37,103]

Isn't commenting on the gag order in public a violation of the gag order?

[TwiceHorn 30,851]

4 minutes ago, TexArcher said:

Isn't commenting on the gag order in public a violation of the gag order?

Don't believe so, no.

[Red Five 40,449]

I know he's just a screaming child, but what exactly is he trying to accomplish, besides having those judges killed by his army of imbeciles? "Republicans must take action!". Um, like what exactly?

['stache 21,589]

14 minutes ago, Red Five said:

I know he's just a screaming child, but what exactly is he trying to accomplish, besides having those judges killed by his army of imbeciles? "Republicans must take action!". Um, like what exactly?

I really don't think it's any deeper than that, but he would be more than happy if one of his worshippers tried to off a judge or witness or juror, because he's human garbage.

[GenXer 2,556]

7 minutes ago, Red Five said:

I know he's just a screaming child, but what exactly is he trying to accomplish, besides having those judges killed by his army of imbeciles? "Republicans must take action!". Um, like what exactly?

I’m likely totally wrong as I don’t share the same worldview and strategy as a malignant narcissist but I think he’s trying to terrorize jurors so that they’ll withdraw or just not show up. If enough drop out, then it’s a mistrial?

If he can get his legion of stupids to flood the courthouse, they’ll eventually get the idea to start looking for jurors and videoing random people that walk into the courthouse. Then, terror sets in with the jurors.

I served on a jury a couple decades ago, and several of the jurors expressed concern during deliberation about  the defendant exacting revenge on them.

[The Dog 43,482]

how the hell does him being in custody delay the trial? 

 

[High Plains Drifter 10,937]

4 minutes ago, The Dog said:

how the hell does him being in custody delay the trial? 

 

 

How would locking him up delay or stop the trail? Wouldn't they just go the lock up and bring him to trial when it started?

 

 

[Js1 83,619]

Ain’t no way he’d fake an illness to look weak. That would shatter his whole persona. “I’m too weak and sick to sit in a court room” while Biden is out campaigning would absolutely shatter the narrative 

[DigglerontheHoof 20,595]

2 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Ain’t no way he’d fake an illness to look weak. That would shatter his whole persona. “I’m too weak and sick to sit in a court room” while Biden is out campaigning would absolutely shatter the narrative 

Absolutely.  Which is why he'll never do the "crazy don" routine, either.  He's a malignant narcissist who thinks he's perfect.  

[Fudge Nuggets 18,995]

14 minutes ago, The Dog said:

how the hell does him being in custody delay the trial? 

 

No shit.  Last I checked, most murderers are in custody while their trials are ongoing.  

[Francisco 2.0 32,213]

22 minutes ago, High Plains Drifter said:

How would locking him up delay or stop the trail? Wouldn't they just go the lock up and bring him to trial when it started?

 

17 minutes ago, DigglerontheHoof said:

Absolutely.  Which is why he'll never do the "crazy don" routine, either.  He's a malignant narcissist who thinks he's perfect.  

 

11 minutes ago, Fudge Nuggets said:

No shit.  Last I checked, most murderers are in custody while their trials are ongoing.  

 

Maybe they go with the Hannibal Lecter move. 

 

[Willfully Horn 7,890]

15 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

“The very problem that we have here is we are weaponizing the justice system to go after former presidents. You back up 2,000 years and this is the kind of thing they would do in the Roman Republic that led to the end of the Roman Republic,” he dramatically proclaimed. “Caesar is out there and says if you do not come back to Rome… and face prosecution, what did he do? He crossed the Rubicon and there’s the end of the Republic.”

Just foreshadowing the narrative for the end of the Republic. Rs were forced to do this. The excuse Putin’s lap dog uses here on this boatd.

[TexEx15 17,325]

 

[tx 3 putt 75,521]

2 hours ago, BehoId, The Underminer! said:

he doesn't have $8MM extra in legal expenses and end up with the morons he has representing him.

russian bot farm workers need a lot of smokes 

[Red Five 40,449]

 

“Unindicted. How this is a blow to Biden’s chances.”

[South Austin 51,681]

6 minutes ago, TexEx15 said:

 

So we can change the thread title to "45 indicated and unindicated"?

['stache 21,589]

He’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle, simultaneously indicated and unindicated.

['stache 21,589]

“I’VE BEEN UNIDICATED AND YET JUDGE MERCHANT REFUSES TO DISMISS THE CASE!!!! LEGAL SCHOLARS ARE BAFFLED!!!! I CANT BE PERSECUTED WITHOUT INDICATEMENT!!!!”

[bolverk 29,095]

Why wouldn't they also be charged? Is it because they might not have enough evidence or because they don't want to go through the hassle of Trump's successful delay, delay, delay strategy?

Can they come back and charge them again later?

[Pato del Muerto 52,114]

8 minutes ago, 'stache said:

He’s an enigma wrapped in a riddle, simultaneously indicated and unindicated.

Schröedinger’s criminal

Edited April 24 by Pato del Muerto

[Sawbonz 26,891]

16 minutes ago, bolverk said:

Why wouldn't they also be charged? Is it because they might not have enough evidence or because they don't want to go through the hassle of Trump's successful delay, delay, delay strategy?

Can they come back and charge them again later?

Maybe immunity in exchange for testifying?

 

nvm I missed Trump was one of them

Edited April 24 by Sawbonz

[A-Tex Devil 2,418]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Ain’t no way he’d fake an illness to look weak. That would shatter his whole persona. “I’m too weak and sick to sit in a court room” while Biden is out campaigning would absolutely shatter the narrative 

Biden: “I wish my opponent the best in his current heath battle.  Knowing Trump and the prior results his doctors have provided us with respect to his health, this must be something very, very serious given what he has going on currently with the campaign and everything else.  I hope he gets better soon so he can be a part of all of these very important items that he has on his very busy schedule these next few months. Bless his heart”

 

If Trump plays the health card, the Biden campaign needs to go southern wine-addled suburban divorced mom passive aggressive on the Trump campaign. 

Edited April 24 by A-Tex Devil

[dcbc 14,282]

2 hours ago, TexArcher said:

Isn't commenting on the gag order in public a violation of the gag order?

[YGIFS 19,445]

Serious question regarding New York State criminal proceedings.  If a juror or court staffer is physically harmed on behalf of the defendant for purposes of intimidation, does the trial halt, get a new jury seated, or what happens?  These people are easier to wind up than I thought possible.  

[dcbc 14,282]

2 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Serious question regarding New York State criminal proceedings.  If a juror or court staffer is physically harmed on behalf of the defendant for purposes of intimidation, does the trial halt, get a new jury seated, or what happens?  These people are easier to wind up than I thought possible.  

I assume the defense would move for a mistrial, arguing that Trump tried to intimidate a juror, got caught, and now the rest of the jury likely will hold that against him.  The argument for the prosecution would be something like, "You don't get a mistrial for something you created (invited error).  They stick an alternate in the slot and move on.  That's my best guess for a Wednesday.

[YGIFS 19,445]

Yeah, I would think in a "normal" trial with a low profile defendant who doesn't have access to a mob...it would be a mistrial and chalked up to some insane lone wolf looking for attention.  But in this case, Trump is literally stirring up his minions to act out.  Hard to prove, but the fingerprints are already there in his posts and press conferences.  Maybe that's a separate legal issue on its own, but I guess---what is the threshold for "You did this to disrupt the case, so we're seating an alternate juror and moving ahead?"  I would imagine it's a whole other ball of motions, filings, and contentions?  

[High Plains Drifter 10,937]

19 minutes ago, dcbc said:

I assume the defense would move for a mistrial, arguing that Trump tried to intimidate a juror, got caught, and now the rest of the jury likely will hold that against him.  The argument for the prosecution would be something like, "You don't get a mistrial for something you created (invited error).  They stick an alternate in the slot and move on.  That's my best guess for a Wednesday.

and then add another indicatement for witness intimidation. 

 

just kidding, nothing would happen. 

[Horn Dog 9,473]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Ain’t no way he’d fake an illness to look weak. That would shatter his whole persona. “I’m too weak and sick to sit in a court room” while Biden is out campaigning would absolutely shatter the narrative 

This is true.  Therefore Trump needs to do the very opposite.  He needs to look healthy...really healthy!  He needs super therapy for super humans.  That's right.. IV bleach, 10x dose Ivermectin,  and UV lights up the bum hole.    It's the only way Don!

[The Dog 43,482]

Source

[Sawbonz 26,891]

Are they taking every Wednesday off?

[Pig Bellmont 8,637]

13 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

Are they taking every Wednesday off?

Yes, but that’s a court mandated schedule and not a Trump accommodation 

[Sawbonz 26,891]

3 minutes ago, The Dog said:

Source

[Macanudo 12,798]

23 minutes ago, Sawbonz said:

Are they taking every Wednesday off?

It's the day we eat birds.

[Underdog 28,229]

It’s to give everybody’s nose a break. 

[honolulu horn 6,154]

COURT CANCELLED TODAY! Rigged judge finally decides to do the Right thing and cancel this mockery of justice. No one at the Courtroom today because They Know they have been found out as the crooked sheep they are. EXONERATED!

[locodos 5,256]

Sticking it to The MAN!

[Longhorn_Fan68 33,723]

look at that picture of vigor and manliness. lol, what a fucking joke

[Dahobbs 17,249]

1 hour ago, Pig Bellmont said:

Yes, but that’s a court mandated schedule and not a Trump accommodation 

This is a horrible trial schedule. It is essentially half-days and partial weeks. Gross. 

[Rimbo 25,246]

1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

It's the day we eat birds.

We cannot eat this bird!

What... is it Lent already?

[YGIFS 19,445]

A gamebird?  Like, you hunt it?  How hard can it be to kill this thing?  /frankcostanza

[4th&Five 41,242]

28 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

This is a horrible trial schedule. It is essentially half-days and partial weeks. Gross. 

Keeps him in court longer. Fine by me. 

[DDD Dad 14,076]

2 hours ago, The Dog said:

Source

[YGIFS 19,445]

Has anyone in these attorneys' sphere of influence bothered to tell them what happens when just writing down "legal reimbursements" on an expense report is validated now?  

Bought a hooker?  Totally fine, reimbursed my attorney who paid her in cash

Bought a kilo of blow?  Totally fine, reimbursed my attorney who paid him in cash

Had somebody killed on contract?  Totally fine, reimbursed my attorney who paid the assassin in cash.  

I cannot wrap my head around how this is an actual defense strategy.  Surely they can some up with something better.  This is like bad plot device left outta the script,  from Lethal Weapon 2