(NewsNation) — President Joe Biden’s legal fees attached to the investigation into his handling of classified documents were paid for by campaign donations, according to an Axios report.
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) paid more than $1.5 million to lawyers or firms representing Biden, according to the committee’s financial filings reviewed by Axios.
Axios reported that the DNC paid $1.05 million to Bob Bauer PLLC, the professional limited liability company for Biden’s lead attorney, from July 2023 to February 2024. Additionally, it increased monthly payments to Hemenway & Barnes from $15,000 to $100,000 starting last July, according to Axios.
The findings come after Biden’s campaign has attacked former President Donald Trump for using his campaign funds on legal fees.
The special counsel, Robert Hur, began investigating Biden’s handling of classified documents in January 2023 after papers from Biden’s vice presidency were found at his office and home.
A person familiar with the matter told Axios that Biden’s team debated the DNC covering legal fees after Hur was appointed special counsel — which came after the DNC criticized the Republican National Committee (RNC) for paying for Trump’s legal fees.
Before Trump was a candidate, the RNC paid some of his legal bills for cases in New York that began when he was president, The Washington Post reported. Former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who was ousted in March, said in 2022 that the RNC would stop paying the legal bills once Trump became a candidate.
Since becoming a presidential candidate, Trump’s Save America PAC has paid his legal fees, and campaign donations are filtered to the PAC before the RNC gets a cut.
Legal spending comprised 85% of Save America’s total operating expenses during the first two months of this year, roughly the same as in 2023, when such expenses were about 89%. It has spent $8.5 million on legal fees so far this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
