At the end of CNN's August 9, 2022 video Analysis: How FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago could help Trump in 2024 (after about 10:00) host Brianna Keilar asks about the former US president potentially announcing candidacy in the 2024 presidential election. What I find interesting and don't understand is Dana Bash's statement about the announcement stopping a "money train" from the Republican National Committee:
Keilar: How does this affect his calculus on an announcement, Alyssa?
Griffin: I think it just sped it up. I was already anticipating that by September he would announce, but I think that he's going to try this theory that you can't indict a president, but he's also going to push it a bit further and say "and I'm a candidate for the presidency". He's going to argue that he's the front runner for the presidency and that that legal theory should spill over. So I think he's moving up his announcement, I think that to him, this is a good day, he's got the momentum he needs, the base has rallied around him, and I'd expect an announcement soon.
Bash: One small factor, that's probably not so small in his mind though, that you know, as somebody who has worked in politics before; the minute he announces he loses a big money train. And that is the money that is coming from a joint agreement with the RNC, that helps him pay his legal bills. And his legal bills are not small.
Question: Why would a former US president lose a big money train from the RNC to pay for their legal bills as soon as they announce candidacy in the next presidential election?
If that is simply part of the agreement, couldn't they simply modify it to continue to pay for his legal bills? It seems likely those expenses will continue to increase between now and 2024, so if the RNC wants to continue to support his candidacy then keeping him away from a felony conviction or other event that removes him from candidacy would seem paramount.
- "Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin and CNN's Dana Bash" and CNN's Brianna Keilar.
