What's the Point of the RNC Again?

I mean, besides serving as Trump's personal ATM.

A few weeks ago, I listened to a very interesting interview with Henry Barbour, nephew of former Republican National Committee chairman, Haley Barbour. Henry is an elected member of the RNC in Mississippi, who, at the time, was trying to pass a resolution that would bar the RNC from paying for a political candidate’s personal legal bills.

It was the kind of initiative that, in normal times, wouldn’t even require consideration. The primary function of the RNC, after all, is to raise money for, and help organize, Republican political campaigns.

But in the era of Donald Trump, the RNC — under the leadership of Ronna McDaniel (who was hand-picked by Trump) — was dedicating several million dollars to cover the former president’s legal bills. This was happening even after Trump left office (and wasn’t even a declared candidate), all while RNC fundraising efforts struggled, and Republican candidates were losing winnable elections hand over fist.

Chris LaCivita, who’s advising Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, had offered public assurances that the campaign would not draw any more RNC money for Trump’s legal expenses, but Barbour and a small group of other RNC members understandably wanted it in writing.

“[The rule] will memorialize it,” said Barbour. “It will give RNC donors — respective donors — more confidence that their dollars that they give to the RNC will actually be used for our core mission: winning elections, and not used for legal bills which really have nothing to do with whether we’re going to win in November or not.”

It seemed like a reasonable, responsible position, and all Barbour needed to advance the resolution was the support of 10 states’ RNC chapters. But mere hours after the interview aired, the resolution went down in flames. Only eight states ultimately signed on, and the initiative was killed.

A lot has happened in the weeks since. McDaniel, at Trump’s urging, was forced out and replaced with fellow Trump loyalist Michael Whatley, and Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump. Lara made headlines in the build-up to her RNC election by repeatedly declaring, in no uncertain terms, that “every single penny” of RNC fundraising money would be spent on Donald Trump. The implication being, of course, that none of that money would go to down-ballot Republican candidates.

Once Whatley and Trump took the reins, the committee was tightly integrated with the Trump campaign, and 60 paid RNC staffers — most of whom worked on the committee’s voter-turnout operation — were fired. And unsurprisingly, the assurances made by Chris LaCivita, who is overseeing further changes at the RNC, have already proven not to be worth the paper they were never printed on.

From the AP:

Donald Trump’s new joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays the former president’s legal bills before the RNC gets a cut, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by The Associated Press.

The unorthodox diversion of funds to the Save America PAC makes it more likely that Republican donors could see their money go to Trump’s lawyers, who have received at least $76 million over the last two years to defend him against four felony indictments and multiple civil cases. Some Republicans are already troubled that Trump’s takeover of the RNC could shortchange the cash-strapped party.

You can’t make this stuff up, folks.

What next? Is the RNC going to require that down-ballot Republicans tithe 10 percent of their family income to Trump? Might as well, at this point.