President Donald Trump no longer charges his legal bills in the Russia probe to his campaign, but rather pays for them himself. He is also working on a plan to use personal funds to help White House staff with legal costs.
White House lawyer Ty Cobb said the Office of Government Ethics was working with a tax firm to create a mechanism for the president to contribute to staffer’s legal bills.
Cobb refused to comment on the issue any further, but said the White House was hoping it would be resolved shortly.
Though the legality of the contributions is not into question, there have been concerns about whether they would influence staffers’ testimonies, Bloomberg reports. The concerns were raised by Walter Shaub, who formerly headed the Office of Government Ethics and who has criticized Trump for other conflict of interests.
Cobb said the White House is well aware there are ethical questions, adding that they are taking steps to address them as soon as possible.
“The president has assumed responsibility for his own legal fees and while he isn’t involved directly in the creation of a mechanism to take care of staffers, it is important to him that they be taken care of and whatever approach is agreed upon by OGE and relevant tax authorities be bulletproof,” he said.
A person familiar with the issue said the final plan ethics and tax officials come up with may not allow for Trump to make contributions to cover former and current staffers’ legal costs.
Trump will probably not use his personal funds to pay for the legal bills of people who served exclusively during the campaign, like former campaign manager Paul Manafort or his deputy Richard Gates. In October, both of them were charged with money laundering.
It remains unclear whether the president’s offer also applies to Michael Flynn whose role as Trump’s national security adviser was terminated early into the administration.
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