Reports: Outside groups spending big to help Trump, Clinton

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton say they raised record amounts of money in August for their presidential bids — a total of $233 million just in one month. The candidates and many of the outside groups supporting them are due to report the details of their summertime fundraising and expenses to federal regulators on Tuesday.

Here are some takeaways from the earliest reports to come in:

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NRA FOR TRUMP

One of the most active outside groups backing Trump, the Republican nominee, is the political arm of the deep-pocketed National Rifle Association, which began September with about $10 million in the bank.

The NRA Political Victory Fund reported Tuesday that it raised $1.4 million in August, mostly from small donations, while it spent more than $3.9 million.

The majority of the group's spending — some $3 million — was on television advertising opposing Clinton, the Democratic nominee, the reports show. According to the Kantar Media's political ad tracker, the group's ads have been concentrated in the battleground states of Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Iowa. The new reports also show the NRA set up pro-Trump booths at gun shows across the country.

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FACEBOOK MONEY FOR CLINTON

Dustin Moskovitz, a co-founder of the social media site Facebook explained in an essay this month that he would spend $20 million to help elect Clinton and other Democrats. A chunk of that money — $5 million — showed up in the League of Conservation Voters' bank account in August. That made up the majority of its almost $6 million in August fundraising, reports filed Tuesday show.

Nearly all of LCV's expenses last month were related to television ads opposing Republican Pennsylvania Sen. Pat Toomey. The group is also canvassing and mailing out pledge cards and other materials backing Clinton, filings show.