The payments, totaling more than $500,000 over the past two months, made by Save America PAC and the Republican National Committee underscore the close ties shared by the Republican Party and Donald Trump’s personal and corporate legal apparatus. These links appear to indicate that the former president’s legion of loyal political donors were tapped to support his company’s legal woes. Columbia University law professor Richard Briffol, an expert on campaign finance law, said of the payments, “it seems questionable.” “Generally these entities are only required to spend money on election-related activities,” Briffo said. “I could certainly see the argument that this has implications for (Trump’s) ability to be a successful candidate, but it strikes me at least that it’s crossing the line.” Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg testified before Manhattan prosecutors over two days this week. In the audience was his lawyer, Nicholas Gravante, a partner at the New York firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft. On Sept. 23, that company received a $75,000 payment from Save America PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Save America is a political action committee founded by Trump in 2020 after he lost the presidential election. It has since become his primary fundraising vehicle. Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg (left) and his attorney Nicholas Gravante. CBS News Asked Thursday if the payment was related to the Trump Organization lawsuit, Gravante said, “I have no idea. I don’t think it’s related to that.” Cadwalader’s chief financial officer did not respond to questions about the payment. Asked again Friday, Gravante replied, “No comment.” On the same day Save America paid Gravante’s company, Sept. 23, it also paid $100,000 to van der Veen, Hartshorn and Levin, according to FEC filings. Michael van der Veen represents a Trump Organization company in the case. His company previously received $149,864.39 on Feb. 7 from the Republican National Committee. “I don’t know. I’d have to ask our accountant,” van der Veen said when asked Thursday afternoon if the payment was related to his work at the Trump Organization. Asked if he has done any other recent work for Save America, van der Veen replied, “I do a lot of things.” Van der Veen represented Trump during his second impeachment in February 2021. That year his firm was paid more than $780,000 by the Make America Great Again PAC and the RNC, according to FEC filings. The Make America Great Again PAC was a fundraising vehicle for Trump’s 2020 campaign. Trump called the Manhattan criminal case a “political witch hunt.” A Save America spokesman, Taylor Budowich, did not respond when asked about the payments. In response to a Washington Post story in October about the use of donor money to pay for law firms, Budowich accused Democrats of “furnishing taxpayer dollars with bogus investigations and unfair cases in an effort to intimidate and silence Republicans.” . The RNC has made five payments this year totaling more than $885,000 to Necheles Law LLP. That firm includes two attorneys, Susan Necheles and Gedalia Stern, who are both representing a Trump Organization company in the Manhattan trial. The most recent payments were $116,181 on October 5th and $235,570.00 on September 7th. Necheles would not discuss her work for the party. “You know, I really can’t talk about it. I’m not going to comment on it,” Necheles said. Weiselberg is scheduled to take the stand again Friday for the third day of testimony. He pleaded guilty in August in the case, in which he and two Trump Organization entities were indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on more than a dozen counts related to fraud and tax evasion. They are accused of participating in a scheme in which company executives allegedly used a variety of methods to underreport millions in income to the tax authorities over more than a decade. The Trump Organization has denied all charges, and during the trial its lawyers tried to pin the blame on Weiselberg, saying he betrayed Trump’s and others’ trust in the company. Ash Kalmar contributed reporting to this story.

Graham Cates

Graham Cates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy and information security issues for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]