Democratic Party Paid Biden’s Legal Bills — As Biden Camp Attacked Trump For Doing The Same

Topline

The Democratic National Committee used nearly $2 million to pay lawyers who represented President Joe Biden in the recent special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents — a revelation that comes after Biden campaign attacked former President Donald Trump for using tens of millions in donor money to pay his mounting legal bills.

President Joe Biden speaks to the National Action Network Convention remotely from the South Court Auditorium of the White House, Friday, April 12, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

Key Facts

Federal Election Commission data shows multiple payments totalling $1.05 million to Bob Bauer LLC between July 2023 and February 2024, as well as multiple $100,000 payments to law firm Hemenway & Barnes that began around July 2023—both legal entities were reportedly part of Biden’s legal team during the special counsel probe, which began in January 2023.

While the disclosures do not show how much money went specifically toward the special counsel investigation, Axios, the first to report on the disclosures, cited two sources familiar with the matter and reported at least $1.5 million went toward defending the probe—multiple media outlets subsequently confirmed payments went toward Biden’s legal defense during the probe.

The payments are legal, and are significantly less than the donated funds Trump has used to pay his legal fees amid multiple criminal and civil cases—since the start of 2023, Trump’s Save America PAC has spent some $51.3 million on legal fees.

However, the spending came to light as the Biden campaign has sought to criticize Trump’s use of donor funds on legal costs.

DNC spokesman Alex Floyd defended the payments to multiple outlets, suggesting “there is no comparison,” because the DNC does not spend its “grassroots donors’ money on legal bills,” while Trump “actively solicits legal fees from his supporters” (Forbes has contacted the DNC and the Biden campaign for comment).

Biden campaign spokesman Kevin Munoz told the New York Times the campaign’s small-donor money went to spreading the campaign’s message to voters, in “stark contrast to Trump,” who Munoz said “is begging retirees and hard-working Americans to pay off his legal fees.”

What Had The Biden Campaign Said About Trump?

In recent weeks, Biden campaign officials had in recent weeks attacked Trump for using his campaign donations to pay for his legal fees, with campaign finance chairman Rufus Gifford telling MSNBC this week “every single dime” given to the Biden-Harris campaign goes to “talking to voters,” and “we are not spending money on legal bills.” Campaign co-chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg poked fun at a recent Trump fundraiser in an interview with the New York Times earlier this month, claiming Trump was “hosting a bunch of fat-cat billionaires hanging out at Mar-a-Lago, plotting how to pay his legal bills and buy political favor.”

Chief Critics

Republicans quickly seized on the report to call out the Biden campaign for the payments. The RNC research account, run by the Republican National Committee, tweeted out the story with the line “Pot, meet kettle.” Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, told the Washington Post the revelation was a sign of “lies and hypocrisy.” Forbes has also contacted the Trump campaign for comment.

Key Background

The special counsel investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents suggested Biden willfully retained classified documents but did not charge him with a crime. The report became a political firestorm for Biden, however, because it said he could paint himself to jurors as an elderly man “with a poor memory,” echoing the Trump campaign’s criticisms of Biden’s age. Trump, meanwhile, is facing multiple criminal and civil cases—ranging from a separate special counsel investigation into his own handling of classified documents and his attempts to overturn his election loss to a case on hush money payments he made to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The trial in that latter case is set to begin Monday.