President Joe Biden received some help with his legal expenses as he faced a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents, according to a new report.
On Friday, Axios published a report that stated, “President Biden used campaign donations to help pay his legal bills last year during the special counsel’s probe into his handling of classified documents, according to two people familiar with the matter and an Axios review of campaign finance records.”
“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,” it added.
Scoop: The DNC paid for Biden’s legal bills for the Hur probe, per 2 ppl familiar and FEC records.
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) April 12, 2024
The payments are at odds with some of the Biden team’s more recent attacks on Trump for using campaign cash for his legal bills.https://t.co/62jkANIlMV
According to the outlet, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) “paid more than $1.5 million to lawyers or firms representing Biden during the probe, according to the committee’s financial filings.”
Despite having the DNC help cover legal expenses, Biden’s campaign has been attacking former President Donald Trump for using campaign donations to help cover his own legal fees.
Biden campaign finance chair Rufus Gifford declared on MSNBC earlier this month, “Every single time you give to the campaign, we’re going straight to talk to voters, with 100 offices open in swing states, hundreds of thousands of calls to voters. We are not spending money on legal bills or hawking gold sneakers.”
Biden-Harris Finance Chair @rufusgifford: Every single time you give to the campaign, we're going straight to talk to voters, with 100 offices open in swing states, hundreds of thousands of calls to voters. We are not spending money on legal bills or hawking gold sneakers pic.twitter.com/AY9qYtQ0L0
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) April 6, 2024
In a statement to Axios, DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd insisted the comparison between Biden and Trump was not valid, “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.”
According to a tally from The New York Times, Trump has spent at least $100 million on legal expenses since he left office in 2021. It noted his Save America PAC has been using donations to pay his legal expenses.
It also pointed out, “The Trump team has said the Republican National Committee won’t pay his legal bills. But his new shared fund-raising agreement with the party directs a portion of donations to his Save America PAC before the party itself.”
