Trump Retakes Control Of RNC, Potentially Opening Up Cash Streams To Pay Legal Bills

Donald Trump, an adjudicated rapist who attempted a coup to remain in power after losing reelection, on Friday retook control of the Republican National Committee, potentially opening up vast new streams of money he can use to pay his mounting legal bills.

At a meeting in Houston, the 168-member group voted to install the former president’s handpicked choice, Michael Whatley, as chair, and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump as vice chair.

Trump forced out Ronna McDaniel from the top job after she refused to cancel debates for the 2024 presidential primaries and otherwise did not accede to his demands. McDaniel, who Trump chose for the position after his surprise election win in 2016, has been blamed by Trump and many of his followers for poor election results ― even though polls show that it has been Trump’s leadership of the party that led to Democratic wins in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.

“President Trump deserves to have the team he wants in place at the RNC,” McDaniel said in a 25-minute farewell speech.

Whatley, who had been the North Carolina state chair, repeated Trump’s lies after the 2020 election, claiming that Joe Biden won because of “massive fraud.” At some point after Jan. 6, 2021, when a Trump-incited mob assaulted the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to install Trump for a second term, Whatley apparently deleted a social media post he wrote that day calling the violence “unjustified and unacceptable.”

In his acceptance speech Friday, Whatley said that “protecting the vote” ― that is, guarding against fraud ― would be just as important to the RNC’s mission in 2024 as turning out the vote. “If our voters don’t have confidence that our elections are safe and secure, nothing else matters,” he said.

Trump’s campaign and