Lara Trump says Republicans are willing to pay Donald Trump's massive legal bills

LEXINGTON, S.C. - Prospective Republican National Committee official Lara Trump says the party should use its money to help father-in-law Donald Trump become president - possibly including help with his massive legal bills.

"I can assure you that my loyalty is to my father-in-law and I will make sure that every penny is used properly,” Lara Trump told supporters Wednesday during a campaign swing through South Carolina.

Trump, who faces the prospect of four criminal trials this campaign year, has also had more than a half-a-billion dollars in civil judgements against him over the past month.

"They see the attacks against him," Lara Trump told South Carolina supporters. "They feel like it’s an attack not just on Donald Trump but on this country ... So yeah I think that is a big interest to people, absolutely.”

Lara Trump promoted her RNC candidacy and her father-in-law's presidential campaign during an address Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).

Discussing her plans, Lara Trump pledged that all RNC spending "will go toward one thing: Winning." She did not provide specifics, or talk about Donald Trump's legal bills.

One emphasis, she said, will be encouraging Republicans to cast ballots before Election Day in states where early voting is permitted. Citing Democratic turnout machines, Lara Trump said "we must embrace early voting."

New RNC leadership

Lara Trump is not yet officially a Republican National Committee official.

The elder Trump has nominated a new RNC leadership team in the expectation that current Republican national party chair Ronna McDaniel will step down shorty after Saturday's South Carolina primary.

Michael Whatley, the current leader of the North Carolina state Republican Party, has been nominated by Donald Trump as national chair by Trump. Lara Trump has been nominated for co-chair.

Haley: Trump can't win

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who is seeking to derail Donald Trump's path to the nomination, said Trump is planning to soak party members to pay his bills rather that help the party in general.

"Over half a billion dollars he’s going to have to pay," Haley told Fox News. "All he talks about is these court cases. He’s not talking about the American people."

Haley said: "We can't win if Donald Trump is the nominee."

Trump enjoys big leads over Haley ahead of Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina, her home state.

Trump's expenses

Looking ahead, Donald Trump's campaign is complicated by gigantic legal expenses, from lawyers' fees to the massive civil judgments entered against him in the past month.

New York judge Arthur Engoron last week ordered Trump and his companies to pay up to $453.5 million for overvaluing his real estate holdings. And late last month, a New York jury assessed Trump more than $83 million in damages to writer E. Jean Carroll, who sued him for defamation over sexual assault.

This week, Save America, Trump's main political action committee, reported paid and unpaid legal bills of nearly $5 million last month. Last year, the group reported legal bills of more than $55 million.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lara Trump: Republicans are willing to pay Donald Trump's legal bills