Nov 18, 2017 - Politics & Policy

Trump has started paying his own legal fees

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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