As Team Trump Lawyers Up, Who's Paying The Attorney Fees? President Trump's re-election campaign paid Donald Trump Jr.'s lawyer $50,000. White House lawyers are paid government salaries, by taxpayers, but it's unknown how the private lawyers are being paid.
For the most part, these legal and recount expenses will be covered by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Trump campaign. The money will likely be drawn from three separate sources.
The law firms of Trump’s lead lawyer, Jay Sekulow, and attorney Jane Raskin have received $225,000 from the RNC through November, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.
Lawyers representing former President Donald Trump for his upcoming Senate impeachment trial are being funded by the national Republican party and private campaign funds.
The marathon of arguments taking place during the second impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is resulting in some long hours for Trump attorneys Bruce Castor, David Schoen and Michael van der Veen, which raises the question of who is paying for his representation.
The campaign overall reported having $10.7 million cash on hand for the period ending Dec. 31, 2020. Trump's ardent supporters also helped him cover costs for his first impeachment in early 2020. As he was already in the middle of his presidential campaign, Trump was able to use campaign dollars and money raised by the Republican Party ...
Taxpayers are not footing the bill for Trump, who left office before the trial began.
The Magnitsky Act. The latest Trump associate to hire a lawyer is Donald Trump Jr. Based on his own emails and interviews, he eagerly attended a meeting in 2016 with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer who he believed had opposition research on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
When Hillary Clinton ran for Senate in 2000, as her husband was winding down his presidency, her personal financial disclosure showed they owed lawyers somewhere between $2.3 million and $10.6 million. Disclosures in later years indicated the Clintons paid up.
Trump spoke up for his son in Paris last week. "I have a son who's a great young man," the president said. "He's a fine person. He took a meeting with a lawyer from Russia. It lasted a very short period. And nothing came of the meeting."
While the White House lawyers are paid government salaries, by taxpayers, the Trump White House has not indicated how much the private lawyers are being paid, or by whom. This kind of legal representation doesn't come cheap.
For the most part, these legal and recount expenses will be covered by the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Trump campaign. The money will likely be drawn from three separate sources.
Second, FEC regulations allow candidates to set up a separate recount account, or a separate authorized committee, subject to the same limits that apply to their campaign ($2,800 from an individual, $5,000 from a PAC). Individual donors who maxed-out to the Trump or Biden campaign during the election may give an additional $2,800 to the Trump or Biden recount account.
The 2020 election cost a record-breaking $14 billion —but legal costs are continuing to pile up in the wake of Election Day, with the Trump campaign filing longshot lawsuits across the country and recounts planned in multiple states. Who is footing the bill?
Trump has declared an intention to request a recount in Wisconsin and will be on the hook for the recount fees. In Georgia, when the vote margin is less than 0.5%--which appears to be the case for the 2020 presidential race—the state will cover the recount costs.
Only those donors who maxed-out to Trump’s 2020 campaign would see any of their money go to Trump’s recount account.
True North Law, which led a failed fight in swing state Michigan, was paid over $270,000 for its services in January by the same committee. Harvey & Binnall, which was involved in a failed legal fight in Nevada, received over $300,000 in payments from January through June by the Trump PAC, according to the filings.
Trump’s political action committees spent $7.9 million on legal matters related to the 2020 recount and his impeachment fight.
The checks continued to go to legal firms through Trump’s impeachment trial, where he was impeached for a second time by the House and exonerated by the Senate. Some payments to legal advisors were as recent as June.
Jenna Ellis, one of Trump’s legal advisors during the recount, was paid more than $22,000 for her services.
That firm led failed legal fights in Georgia. According to The Wall Street Journal, Kurt Hilbert , a founder of the firm, was on an infamous January phone call between Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Trump urged Raffensperger to overturn then-President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Trump’s lawyers reaped a windfall during his impeachment trial.
None of the FEC records shows legal service payments to Rudy Giuliani, who has called the president a client and publicly challenged the results of the election.
President Trump's personal attorney Jay Sekulow, center, stands with his son, Jordan Sekulow, left, and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, in the Great Hall of the White House on Jan 28. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
Most of the trust money flowed to two Washington law firms: Williams & Connolly and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Elias defended the creation of the legal proceedings account, saying the Democratic Party has used that money to fund lawsuits challenging what it sees as voter suppression tactics around the country.
Donors to the RNC and Trump’s reelection campaign have already covered millions of dollars in attorney fees stemming from the president’s other legal travails: former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, court battles over the president’s tax returns, and a now-withdrawn defamation lawsuit filed by a former campaign staffer.
Starr declined to talk about his legal fees or to comment for this story. Ray, Herschmann and Raskin did not return messages seeking comment.
Trump’s campaign committee is not directly paying impeachment-related legal bills, according to a campaign official, although the campaign does transfer money to the RNC from time to time. Story continues below advertisement.
The president's 3,500 lawsuits were first reported back when Trump was just a presidential candidate in 2016. An investigation by USA Today analysed legal filings across the U.S. and concluded that the number of cases was "unprecedented" for a presidential nominee. USA Today also found that Trump had been involved in more litigation than five other top American real-estate developers combined.
However, numerous businesses and individuals have shared their stories with USA Today and other media outlets, highlighting how Trump refused to pay after their services were complete. When they pressed for payment, representatives of the Trump Organization allegedly threatened legal action, forcing individuals or businesses to accept less money than they had been promised.
As Zirin claimed, hundreds of individuals who have done work for Trump have said that he refused to pay after their services were rendered, according to a separate investigation by USA Today.