Ex-Trump Aide Issues Warning About Donald's Campaign Funds

Former President Donald Trump's ex-aide Alyssa Farah Griffin issued a warning Thursday about his campaign funds as he marches toward securing the Republican Party's presidential nomination, setting up a likely rematch against President Joe Biden later this year.

Trump remains the frontrunner to win the GOP's presidential primary after he secured victories in early voting states Iowa and New Hampshire, and remains poised for victory in states like South Carolina. While he remains popular with the Republican Party's right-wing base, some political analysts have questioned whether his legal woes and sharply conservative policies could become a liability in the general election. The former president, facing four criminal indictments and a total of 91 felony charges, has maintained his innocence.

Griffin, who served as director of strategic communications in the Trump White House and now is a co-host of The View, has openly expressed support for former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, Trump's chief Republican rival. Griffin has become a staunch Trump critic following the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building, in which a group of Trump's supporters violently protested the 2020 presidential election, which the former president claimed was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud despite a lack of substantial evidence.

During an interview on CNN on Thursday night, Griffin warned that Trump's campaign may face financial woes heading into the 2024 election.

Trump has faced questions about whether he would use political action committee (PAC) money to pay for legal bills after a New York jury last month ordered he pay former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll $83 million in her civil defamation suit against him. The New York Times reported earlier this week that his campaign spent about $50 million on legal fees.

However, he has avoided answering questions and has drawn criticism for using these funds on legal fees—including from Haley, who has said the potential use of campaign funds to pay legal fees is "unconscionable."

Griffin said Trump is running for president in order to "stay out of jail" and is using his campaign's donors to "pay off his legal fees," but noted that Republican voters do not seem to care. She warned this could be consequential to the general election against Democrats.

"We are reaping what we're sowing, and yeah, he's going to enter the general election not with the money he needs to win," she said.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.

According to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), Trump ended 2023 with roughly $33 million on hand, while Biden had about $46 million. Trump raised nearly $80 million and spent $46.5 million, while Biden raised $90 million and spent about $44 million.

Meanwhile, Trump's Save America PAC had about $3.6 million on hand at the end of 2023.

Griffin also said during her CNN appearance that Republican voters believe in "a different set of facts" and would "honestly rather risk losing with Trump than winning with Nikki Haley" in November.