At least two former associates of President Donald Trump’s campaign are struggling to pay hefty legal bills stemming from the congressional and federal probes into Russia’s interference in the U.S. election.
A person close to Michael Flynn told Bloomberg this week that the ousted national security adviser is establishing a fund to raise money for his defense. Covington & Burling attorney Robert Kelner is representing Flynn as investigators probe his lobbying work during the campaign on behalf of Turkey and his contacts with Russian officials.
Given that Flynn is the subject of an “open criminal investigation,” as former FBI director James Comey testified before Congress, his legal fees could easily amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to Bloomberg.
Former campaign aide Michael Caputo is also having trouble paying former New York state attorney general Dennis Vacco to represent him in congressional probes, he told the Associated Press this week. Noting with irritation that the Trump campaign was footing the legal bill for Donald Trump, Jr., who met with a Kremlin-linked lawyer and others with ties to Russia at Trump Tower last year, Caputo told the AP he was using his children’s college funds to cover his own legal bills.
“Lucky for them,” Caputo said of those whose legal fees were covered by the campaign. “And unlucky for me. And unlucky for my children who are now going to community college.”
The Trump campaign doled out $50,000 to the law firm of Alan Futerfas, Trump Jr.’s lawyer, two weeks before any news of the meeting broke. The campaign has spent almost $1 million on legal fees since the start of the year, according to a recent Federal Election Commission filing.
