REPORT: Ex-Trump Lawyer Wanted To Divert White House Legal Funds To Pay For Paul Manafort’s Defense

Talking Points Memo reports:

Ex-Trump lawyer John Dowd wanted to contribute to the legal fees racked up by former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his deputy Rick Gates, but White House ethics officials who wanted to keep an arm’s length between the trials and the President foiled the effort.

According to a Friday Wall Street Journal report, Dowd first tried to divert funds from the White House defense fund, set up specifically for people paying legal fees due to their involvement with the President.

As Gates and Manafort were being charged for crimes they committed before President Donald Trump’s campaign, ethics advisers stymied the transaction.