Nov 18, 2017

Trump has started paying his own legal fees

Haley Britzky

Photo: Evan Vucci / AP

Axios' Jonathan Swan reported in October that Trump would spend at least $430,000 of personal funds to pay legal fees of current and former campaign and White House staff wrapped up in the Russia probe. And now he has officially begun paying his own legal fees, which were previously covered by the RNC.

Why it matters: Now the question is how to meet ethical and regulatory standards so it doesn't appear that Trump's personal payments are influencing his staffers in the Russia investigation. Bloomberg reports the Office of Government Ethics are working with a tax firm to iron out those details.

One more thing: Trump does not plan to pay for those who "served exclusively during the campaign," per Bloomberg, including Paul Manafort, Richard Gates, or George Papadopoulos, all of whom were indicted last month.

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Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 7 p.m. ET: 782,319 — Total deaths: 37,582 — Total recoveries: 164,565.
  2. U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 5 p.m. ET: 161,807 — Total deaths: 2,953 — Total recoveries: 5,595.
  3. Federal government latest: The White House will extend its social distancing guidelines until April 30.
  4. State updates: Rural-state governors say testing is still inadequate, contradicting Trump — Virginia, Maryland and D.C. issue stay-at-home orders to residents, joining 28 other states.
  5. Business latest: Ford and General Electric aim to make 50,000 ventilators in 100 days.
  6. In photos: Navy hospital ship arrives in Manhattan.
  7. What should I do? Answers about the virus from Axios experts — What to know about social distancing — Q&A: Minimizing your coronavirus risk.
  8. Other resources: CDC on how to avoid the virus, what to do if you get it.

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