Donald Trump’s team is reportedly creating a legal defence fund that will assist in paying for his allies’ legal fees as the number of investigations and indictments against the ex-president increases.
The fund, supposedly set to be led by longtime Trump advisor Michael Glassner, is thought to be called the Patriort Legal Defense Fund Inc, two people familiar with the matter told The New York Times and CNN.
Since leaving office, Mr Trump has been subject to several investigations and is currently facing two indictments, one at the federal level and one in New York City.
Since January, Mr Trump’s political action committee (PAC), Save America, has reportedly spent more than $40m on legal fees for him and his former staffers or allies who have served as witnesses or provided testimony.
It is unclear what, or who, the new fund will cover, though one witness told The New York Times it will not cover Mr Trump’s own legal bills.
A spokesperson for Mr Trump, Steven Cheung, told The New York Times that to combat “heinous actions” from the Department of Justice (DoJ) a new legal defence fund ”will help pay for their legal fees to ensure they have representation against unlawful harassment.”
Mr Cheung claimed the DoJ has “targetted innocent Americans associated with President Trump” and the fund would “protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed.”
Many of Mr Trump’s former White House staffers, as well as his personal assistants or staffers, have been called upon to testify regarding the many investigations he faces.
Most recently, Mr Trump’s former personal aid, Walt Nauta, and a Mar-a-Lago property manager, Carlos De Oliveira, were listed as the ex-president’s co-defendants in a federal indictment regarding the mishandling of classified documents.
Mr Trump may be facing another indictment regarding his alleged involvement in trying to overturn the 2020 election which ultimately led to a riot at the Capitol on 6 January 2021.
He is also being investigated in Fulton County, Georgia for his alleged interference with the 2020 election results.
These soon-to-be-concluded investigations come months after Mr Trump was indicted on 34 counts related to falsifying business records in New York and federally indicted on 37 counts related to his handling of classified documents.
Mr Trump has maintained his innocence in all the investigations and indictments, claiming he is a political target and that a “witch hunt” is being conducted.
