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This week, we learned that Donald Trump's fundraising committees plowed an astonishing $29 million

into paying the former president's legal fees during the second half of last year. He spent

$50 million on legal defenses during all of

2003, money that was taken from donations to his political outfits. For many political observers,

this is a sign of his weakness as a general election candidate. Not only does he face extraordinary

legal jeopardy while running for president, it's also forcing him to siphon off immense sums that might otherwise fund his campaign.

Today, we're going to take another angle on this story by putting it in the context of the long history of right-wing grift in America.

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