Chris LaCivita, a senior adviser to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, said on Friday he won't pay the former president's legal expenses with funds from the Republican National Committee (RNC).
New York Attorney General Letitia James in a lawsuit filed in September 2022 accused Trump, his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, The Trump Organization and two firm executives, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney of fraudulently overvaluing assets to secure more favorable bank loans and taxation deals.
Trump, the GOP frontrunner for the 2024 presidential nomination, was then fined roughly $355 million by Judge Arthur Engoron in the civil fraud case. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case and claimed it was politically motivated, vowing to appeal the verdict.
Engoron's judgment comes weeks after Trump was ordered to pay $83.3 million to former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll for damaging her reputation after she accused him of sexually assaulting her during an incident in the 1990s. A separate jury last year awarded Carroll $5 million from Trump for sexual abuse and defamation. Trump has denied any wrongdoing in those cases and vowed to appeal them as well.
With the civil fraud ruling and the two judgments in Carroll's defamation case, the former president would be responsible for approximately $542 million in judgments. According to James, the interest payments in his civil fraud case totaled $99 million and would "continue to increase every single day until it is paid."
Meanwhile, the current chair of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel, informed Trump that she intends to step down from the role after the South Carolina primary on February 24, according to a report from the New York Times citing anonymous sources close to the matter. This report comes amid months of mounting criticism of McDaniel's performance in the role, particularly from Trump supporters.
Since then, Trump endorsed his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is married to Eric, for the role of RNC co-chair. She previously served as an adviser for his 2020 presidential campaign. The former president also endorsed North Carolina Republican Party chairman, Michael Whatley, who serves as general counsel of the RNC, as chair.
On Friday, LaCivita, who is set to take on RNC operating officer duties, said he will not use funds from the RNC to cover Trump-related legal expenses when asked about it by NBC News.