Official merchandise sales from Donald Trump's inaugural committee may do more than celebrate his second presidency–they could ultimately be used to cover Trump’s personal expenses, including legal fees.

On November 9, the president-elect launched the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, a tax-exempt organization tasked with organizing events surrounding the inauguration; its website, t47inaugural.com, went live around that time, too. The site’s “merchandise” section redirects to WinRed, the Republican Party’s main fundraising platform, offering 38 inauguration-themed items ranging from a $12 pair of buttons to a $70 fleece pullover. In smaller print at the bottom of the page and during checkout, the site discloses that proceeds from these sales go to the Trump National Committee, which allocates 20% to Never Surrender, a leadership PAC formed on Nov. 12 when Trump’s 2024 campaign committee was renamed and restructured, and 80% to the Republican National Committee—completely bypassing the nonprofit inaugural committee.

While campaign contributions cannot legally be used to cover a candidate’s personal expenses, leadership PACs, like Never Surrender, are not bound by such restrictions. This gives Trump significant flexibility in how he uses the proceeds from merchandise commemorating his upcoming inauguration. For instance, another Trump leadership PAC, Save America, has spent $93 million on legal fees and shifted another $720,000 to Trump’s businesses, according to records filed with the Federal Election Commission.

It’s unusual for proceeds from inauguration merchandise to go to a leadership PAC, according to Brett Kappel, an attorney specializing in campaign finance. “The sales of inaugural memorabilia are usually used to pay for the inaugural events,” Kappel says. “As far as I know, this is the first time that the proceeds of such sales are being diverted to a presidential leadership PAC, where they are not subject to the prohibition on personal use.”

Without addressing why the funds are being directed to political groups instead of the inaugural nonprofit, a spokesperson for Trump’s inaugural committee explained that they opted to use a pre-existing partner, WinRed, to sell merchandise due to the short time frame between the election and inauguration (a period that’s been the same since the 20th Amendment was ratified in 1933).

“There is no need to prop up an entire online store, while we are focused on planning a once-in-a-lifetime inauguration,” the spokesperson told Forbes.

In 2017, proceeds from the sole official piece of merchandise Trump’s inaugural committee sold—a $50 commemorative license plate—were directed to the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, according to an archived snapshot of the event’s website on archive.org. Similarly, proceeds from official souvenir sales for both of Obama’s inaugurations went toward paying for inaugural events, according to contemporaneous news accounts. Reports on Biden’s 2021 inauguration store did not specify where the proceeds went, though the shop was hosted on his nonprofit inaugural committee’s site.

Ciara Torres-Spelliscy, a professor at Stetson University’s law school and the author of the new book Corporatocracy: How to Protect Democracy from Dark Money and Corrupt Politicians, sees potential legal concerns with proceeds from inaugural merchandise flowing to Trump’s PAC and the RNC. “Is there a legal problem? Yes, if donors are being misled that they are giving to the inaugural when the money is going elsewhere,” Torres-Spelliscy says. “This presents a potential wire fraud problem. So the details of how apparent the small print matters.”

It’s unclear where Never Surrender is putting its 20% cut of Trump’s inauguration store sales, and details about how it has spent its funds since transitioning from Trump’s campaign committee on November 12 will not be publicly available until the end of January. Spokespeople for Never Surrender and the RNC did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump, of course, is no stranger to allegations of using inaugural funds for his personal benefit. In 2022, Trump’s first inaugural committee and business agreed to pay $750,000 to Washington, D.C. after the attorney general alleged they “illegally misused nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family.” The lawsuit claimed that the first inaugural fund overpaid Trump’s hotel for event space, hosted a private party for Trump’s adult children and settled a debt for the Trump Organization.

Meanwhile, his business’s website, trumpstore.com, is selling merchandise pegged to his presidencies.

At a press conference before his first inauguration, Trump’s attorney said that Trump had “instructed us to take all steps realistically possible to make it clear that he is not exploiting the office of the presidency for his personal benefit.”