The Democratic National Committee spent over $1.5 million on legal fees for President Biden related to the special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents, contradicting claims by Biden’s campaign that donations would not be used for legal costs.
Payments went to Biden’s top lawyer and another firm representing him.
“Every single dime that you give to the Biden-Harris re-election campaign we spend talking to voters,” Biden Campaign Finance Chair Rufus Gifford said.
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
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) April 6, 2024
“What is [Trump] doing? He might put up some money tonight with his billionaire friends in a closed-door fundraiser in Palm Beach. We understand that,” Gifford added. “We are not spending money on legal bills. We are not hawking gold sneakers or any of that stuff. The money that we are raising, we are going straight to talking to voters.”
While Biden’s legal fees were smaller than former President Trump’s $100 million bill, the use of Democratic donations to cover legal costs undercuts criticism of Republicans doing the same.
“Just the other day, a defeated-looking guy came up to me and said, ‘Mr. President, I need your help. I’m being crushed with debt. I’m completely wiped out.’ I had to say, ‘Donald, I can’t help you,’” Biden joked.
