USA TODAY International Edition

Trump’s legal fees rising along with inquiries

- Fredreka Schouten and Christophe­r Schnaars

President Trump already has stockpiled nearly $ 12 million for his 2020 re- election campaign, but his spending on legal expenses is soaring as his administra­tion deals with a rapidly expanding investigat­ion into possible collusion between his campaign and the Russian government, documents released Saturday afternoon show.

Trump’s campaign racked up more than $ 677,000 in “legal consulting” fees between April and June, more than twice the $ 249,000 he spent on legal bills during the first three months of his presidency, newly filed Federal Election Commission reports show.

Most of the legal expenses were tied to his longtime election law firm, Jones Day.

But the filings also show a nearly $ 90,000 payment for legal expenses to his company, the Trump Organizati­on, and $ 50,000 payment on June 27 to the law firm of Alan Futerfas, the New York- based criminal attorney now representi­ng Donald Trump Jr.

The younger Trump is facing increased scrutiny over revelation­s that he met a Russian lawyer in the heat of the 2016 presidenti­al campaign, believing that the Russian government had dirt to offer on Democratic presidenti­al contender Hillary Clinton.

On Saturday, Trump announced the addition of veteran Washington lawyer Ty Cobb to his legal team.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States