US Campaign Fund Laws
There are two basic sources of funds for a candidate. The are differing rules as to how such funds may be spent.
The Campaign Account
All funds in this account may not be used for personal expenses. Such an expense is defined as one which would have been incurred, whether or not the person was a candidate for political office.
Leadership PAC
These funds are to be used to support the campaign of the candidate. Personal expenses of the candidate are allowed to be paid from this account. There are strict rules on identifying the names of the donors. There are very loose rules on stipulating the recipients of the sums paid out. It is possible to define this entity generically, such as “administrative expenses”. Both Clinton and Trump used intermediaries. Payments have been made to third parties which have then used these funds to pay the candidate’s expenses or otherwise. These funds could be used to pay the damages suffered by Trump in his two civil lawsuits or pay his legal expenses.
Soliciting Donations
The candidate asking for public donations must stipulate where the funds are going, to the Campaign Account or the Leadership PAC. In Trump’s case, this is noted in small font at the bottom of the solicitation, such as 90% to the PAC, 10% to the Campaign, or all funds over $500 goes to the Leadership PAC.
Super Pac
There is also a third bank which is required to be independent of the candidate and have no connections with the candidate. There are no rules on how these funds are spent. It would be hard for this PAC to pay expenses as this would require such co-ordination with the candidate.