A vast majority of Republicans have continued to show that the GOP is firmly in the hands of the twice-impeached and four-times-indicted former President Donald Trump, who is immersed in his second sexual assault defamation trial. In the first case, Trump was found guilty and ordered to pay his victim $5 million.
Trump faces 91 felony counts, was found civilly responsible for massive business fraud and faces at least $250 million in penalties, urged on an insurrection that led to the death of five law enforcement officers, and a Congressional panel discovered that he allegedly traded favors with foreign governors while in office. Despite such a record, a Florida bill backed by the state’s chief financial officer created a $5 million fund to help pay for Trump’s mounting legal fees.
Bloomberg News reported that state Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Republican, has proposed to create the “Freedom Fighters Fund,” which would provide financial support for Florida residents running for president who face legal action. Trump, seeking a second term, lives in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
The outlet noted that the proposal, which still must clear multiple committees, “underscores the broader fealty of Republicans to Trump as leader of the party. It comes a day after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis ended his struggling White House campaign and endorsed the former president.”
“If we can help and support a Florida candidate for the White House, that’s just good from a dollars and cents perspective,” said Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis in an emailed statement supporting the bill.
Patronis, a former lawmaker who has served as Florida’s CFO since 2017, has led some of the state’s most significant attacks on finance, including cutting BlackRock Inc. out of some state funds because it supported investments that consider a company’s environmental, social and corporate governance policies. He endorsed Trump less than an hour after DeSantis dropped out.
The proposed $5 million for the new fund would come from the state’s public campaign-matching funds program, which would later be replenished from voluntary donations via driver’s license registrations, according to Patronis.
