RNC spent over $230K last month covering Trump's legal fees in Russia investigations

ByALEXANDER MALLIN ABCNews logo
Wednesday, September 20, 2017

The Republican National Committee spent over $230,000 last month to cover President Donald Trump's legal fees related to the investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, an RNC official confirmed for ABC News.

The money went to two members of Trump's personal legal team: $131,250 to Jay Sekulow and $100,000 to John Dowd through their law firms. Fees to Sekulow's firm covered work by other attorneys at his firm, the Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group.

These payments will be disclosed in the RNC's spending report for August, out Thursday.

The RNC has also paid nearly $200,000 of Donald Trump Jr.'s legal bills.

Of that, $166,527.50 was given to Alan Futerfas, who is representing Trump Jr., and $30,102.90 to the law firm Williams & Jensen this month. These payments will appear on the RNC's September disclosure.

All legal fees were covered by the RNC's legal defense fund, which is financed separately from the political operation, mostly by wealthy donors.

The RNC has not committed to footing the president's and his son's legal bills as the probes continue.

The details were first reported by CNN and Reuters.

Political parties' legal defense funds are typically used to pay for legal actions related to elections, including ballot access and recounts.

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