Trump's longtime strongman got benefits we're just beginning to learn about. Wonder why he needed legal representation?
Ken Dilanian at NBC News reports that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign paid more than $66,000 to the law firm that represents Keith Schiller, his former bodyguard, according to newly filed campaign records.
Schiller told Congress that he refused an offer by someone in Moscow in 2013 to send five women to Trump's hotel room, a detail that relates to the purported “pee pee tape.”
Federal election law allows the use of campaign money for legal fees, but only if the fees are related to a matter connected to the campaign, legal experts say.
The Trump campaign spent $834,000 on legal fees during the first quarter of 2018, federal campaign records show — about 20 percent of total spending.
About $348,000 went to Jones Day, a law firm representing the campaign in the Mueller probe. A total of $280,000 was paid to two firms — Harder LLP and Larocca, Hornik, Rosen, Greenberg & Blaha — that represent Trump and his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, in their ongoing dispute with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.
In the last two years, the campaign has paid nearly $288,000 to a firm representing his son, Donald Jr., federal election records show.
Stuart Sears, a lawyer for Schiller, told NBC News he could not comment on whether the Trump campaign's payment was related to Schiller's legal fees.
