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President Joe Biden used campaign donations to pay his legal bills related to the investigation of his handling of classified documents, a stunning new report revealed on Friday. Biden and his allies have blasted rival Donald Trump for using donors’ money to pay for his massive legal bills.
But Biden is doing the same thing, Axios reported, revealing the Democratic National Committee paid more than $1.5 million to lawyers or firms representing Biden during special counsel Robert Hur probe of the president’s handling of classified documents. The DNC paid $1.05 million to Bob Bauer PLLC — the professional limited liability company for Biden’s lead attorney, Bob Bauer from July 2023 to February 2024.
Additionally, starting last July, the DNC increased its monthly payments to law firm Hemenway & Barnes from $15,000 to $100,000. Jennifer Miller, who works at the firm, is one of Biden’s attorneys. It’s unclear how much of that money was spent on Biden’s fees versus legal work for the DNC, which did not give a comment on the matter.
Hur was investigating how classified documents ended up in an office formerly used by Biden and in the garage of his home in Wilmington, Del., near Biden’s classic Corvette. Hur, who was appointed to the position by Attorney General Merrick Garland, ultimately concluded there was insufficient evidence to charge Biden with a crime. But, as part of his investigation, the special counsel interviewed Biden at the White House on October 8th and 9th. And the FBI had searched Biden’s home to see if any other classified material was present. Biden’s lawyers were present during both events.
Hur’s original, bombshell report sparked fury from the White House when the special counsel described the 81-year-old Biden as ‘a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.’ Biden himself blasted Hur for claiming he didn’t remember the day his son Beau died. The president, in addition to the special counsel’s investigation, also faces an impeachment attempt from House Republicans that is largely losing steam. So the total amount of legal bills he’s facing during his presidency remains unclear.
But the new report comes just a few weeks after Biden held a glitzy fundraiser at Radio City Hall in New York, featuring Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, where his campaign raked in over $25 million. Biden and his allies have repeatedly mocked Trump for using donor money for legal fees. The former president faces around $100 million in legal bills tied to cases in New York and Georgia, along with two federal cases.
The president, at a fundraiser in Texas last month, got a huge laugh from donors when he said: ‘Just the other day, this defeated-looking man came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, I need your help. I’m in crushing debt. I’m completely wiped out.” ‘I said, ‘Sorry, Donald, I can’t help you.” And when Trump raised over $50 million at a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago, a Biden campaign official mocked it as ‘a handful of billionaires figuring out how to pay his legal bills.’
The DNC said there is a difference in the use of money. ‘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,’ DNC spokesperson Alex Floyd said. The Republican National Committee has asked DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison to explain to donors why their money was spent on Biden’s legal fees.
The Republican National Committee had paid some of Trump’s legal bills but since he became a presidential candidate in 2022, his legal bills have been paid from campaign donations to his Save America PAC. The RNC has now told donors none of their money will go to Trump’s fights in court. Last year, Trump’s fundraising arms spent more than $50 million on legal costs.
