Trump Team Sets Up “Patriot Legal Expense Fund”

ABC News reports:

Lawyers are laying the groundwork for a new legal defense fund to aid those who have at one point served candidate and now President Donald Trump and who have been pulled into the ongoing Russia probe.

The fund, called the “Patriot Legal Expense Fund,” is being looked to as a way to provide financial support for any legal bills incurred by any individual who “was an employee, consultant, fundraised or volunteer” on behalf of President Trump’s campaign, according to a document labeled “draft” that was posted on the Office of Government Ethics website.

The document, written by lawyers from Wiley Rein LLP, is dated Jan. 29, 2018, but it is unclear who started the fund or how much in assets the funds currently hold.

However, separately the Trump campaign which spent $1.1 million on legal fees last quarter included a $10,000 payment to the same law firm for “legal consulting,” according to FEC filings. A source with knowledge says the campaign did hire the law firm to start the fund, but that the campaign will have no role in the day to day management or the funding of the project.