Trump bets, again, on legal troubles yielding big donations

Donald Trump followed a predictable pattern this week.

The former president announced Tuesday a new set of legal troubles, this time a letter from special counsel Jack Smith that said he is the target of a criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election. By day's end, he was asking his supporters for campaign donations to help him fend off what he called "another vicious act of Election Interference on behalf of the Deep State."

Recent disclosures with the Federal Election Commission underscore how much these criminal cases - and Trump's fundraising around them - have boosted his campaign finances as he mounts a third White House bid.

A CNN analysis of itemized donations - those larger than $200 - to Trump's campaign shows his day-by-day contributions over the first six months of this year spiked following the indictment news. In the first half of March, for instance, Trump's principal campaign committee reported taking in an average of less than $80,000 a day in itemized contributions, according to the analysis

But roughly $4 million landed in his campaign coffers into the days surrounding his March 30 indictment by a Manhattan grand jury in connection with an alleged hush-money scheme and his April 4 arraignment in the case. He pleaded not guilty.

(The CNN analysis looked at contributions larger than $200 because that's a threshold for candidates to disclose details about contributions, including the date they were received.)

Political donations soared again in June when US Justice Department filed criminal charges against Trump, alleging he mishandled classified documents he retained after leaving the White House and obstructed the government's efforts to get them back. He, again, pleaded not guilty.