https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/year-election-rnc-spending-hundreds-thousand... More than a year after the 2020 presidential election, the GOP is still covering numerous legal bills for the benefit of former President Donald Trump -- and the price tag is ruffling the feathers of some longtime GOP donors who are now critical of Trump. In October and November alone, the Republican National Committee spent nearly $720,000 of its donor money on paying law firms representing Trump in various legal challenges, including criminal investigations into his businesses in New York, according to campaign finance records. Trump's legal bills have sent the Republican Party's total legal expenditures soaring in recent months, resulting in $3 million spent just between September and November. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee has been gradually winding down its legal expenses over the last few months. Traditionally, national political parties have at times covered presidents and their advisers' legal fees in matters related to their presidential campaigns. And throughout his presidency, the Republican Party has footed legal bills for Trump, his family members and his political allies, going back to the days of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 election, through the impeachment proceedings following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. MORE: Garland defends DOJ probe into Capitol attack, vows to hold those accountable 'at any level' But experts say the GOP's recent payments of Trump's attorney fees after he left the White House, for investigations that are not relevant to the next presidential campaign, is a very unusual move that's indicative of the ongoing influence that the former president has over the party. "Campaign finance law does not strictly prohibit a national party committee from paying for private legal expenses, but it is very rare for a party committee to use donor money in that way," said Brendan Fischer, federal reforms director at nonpartisan government ethics group Campaign Legal Center. "And it is entirely unprecedented for a national party committee to cover a former president's private legal bills, especially when those legal expenses arise out of an investigation into activity that preceded Trump's time in the White House, and when Trump is sitting on millions of his own PAC funds," Fischer said. RNC spokesperson Emma Vaughn told ABC News that the RNC's executive committee approved paying for "certain legal expenses that related to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump," while declining to comment on which specific cases are being paid for. again clashed over the use of Trump's name in fundraising appeals, with the GOP eventually reaching an agreement to use his name. In addition to covering many of Trump's legal bills, the RNC has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting lawsuits across the country "to ensure the integrity of our elections," said RNC spokeswoman Danielle Alvarez. MORE: DHS official whose early warning about militias was rebuffed speaks out about Jan. 6 Gearing up for the 2022 election cycle, the RNC has been building an aggressive nationwide "election integrity program," engaging in election-related lawsuits in states like Georgia, Florida, Arizona and Texas, stationing state-directors in battleground states, engaging hundreds of attorneys at the state level and training thousands of poll watchers. The party is engaged in 30 such "election integrity" lawsuits, Alvarez said, with financial disclosures showing payments of $500,000 to the law firm of Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, more than $260,000 to McGuireWoods, and $243,000 to Consovoy McCarthy PLLC. Even with all the legal expenditures, the RNC has continued to build a huge war chest over the past year. Backed by megadonors that include Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman and casino mogul Steve Wynn, the RNC ended November with more than $65 million in cash on hand.