The Democratic National Committee used donor funds to cover President Joe Biden’s legal expenses in connection to special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into classified documents, despite objections from party members about the Republican National Committee assisting with former President Donald Trump’s increasing legal fees.
According to Axios, “Biden used campaign donations to help pay his legal bills last year during the special counsel’s probe into his handling of classified documents,” two sources confirmed to the outlet.
“The payments, made through the Democratic National Committee, are at odds with the Biden campaign’s recent attacks on Donald Trump for spending his campaign funds on legal fees,” the outlet noted further.
According to the financial reports of the committee, the DNC, which has gathered the most substantial contributions for Biden’s re-election campaign, disbursed more than $1.5 million to attorneys or law firms who represented Biden throughout the investigation.
Axios further noted:
– In January 2023, special counsel Robert Hur began investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents after papers from Biden’s vice presidency were found at his office and home.
– From July 2023 to February 2024, the DNC paid $1.05 million to Bob Bauer PLLC — the professional limited liability company for Biden’s lead attorney, Bob Bauer.
– Those payments were largely for handling the special counsel probe, including bringing on veteran lawyer David Laufman. He’s a former Justice Department official who previously oversaw the politically fraught probes into Hillary Clinton’s email server and Russian interference in the 2016 election.
In the meantime, the Biden campaign and its supporters have launched an offensive against the RNC for covering some of Trump’s legal expenses. During an appearance on MSNBC last weekend, the finance chair of Biden’s campaign emphasized that every donation made to the campaign goes directly towards engaging with voters. He made it clear that they are not using funds for legal matters or promoting extravagant merchandise like gold sneakers, which was a subtle jab at Trump.
Furthermore, a deputy campaign manager for Biden criticized a recent extravagant fundraiser held for Trump, referring to it as a gathering of a few wealthy individuals trying to find ways to cover his legal fees. When approached by Axios, DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd attempted to highlight the disparities between the actions of his organization and the RNC in supporting their respective presidential candidates.
“There is no comparison — the DNC does not spend a single penny of grassroots donors’ money on legal bills — unlike Donald Trump, who actively solicits legal fees from his supporters and has drawn down every bank account he can get his hands on, like a personal piggy bank,” he said.
