The Democratic National Committee spent funds on President Biden’s legal bills last year, a move for which Democrats often criticize former President Donald Trump.
The legal bills were from the investigation of the president’s mishandling of classified documents by special counsel Robert Hur. The DNC paid lawyers and firms that represented Mr. Biden more than $1.5 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Axios was the first to report on the payments.
Filings show seven payments of $150,000 were made to Bob Bauer, Mr. Biden’s lead attorney, from July to February. Monthly payments also went to the law firm Hemenway & Barnes.
Mr. Bauer and former Justice Department official David Laufman were present with Mr. Biden for his interview with Mr. Hur. Jennifer Miller from Hemenway & Barnes joined the legal process.
Mr. Biden’s reelection team has often slammed the Trump camp for using money from political groups to cover the former president’s long list of legal fees.
On MSNBC last weekend Biden campaign finance chairman Rufus Gifford said, “Every single dime that you give to the Biden-Harris reelection campaign we spend talking to voters.”
“We are not spending money on legal bills,” he said. “We are not hawking gold sneakers.”
That comment referred to a line of Trump-branded sneakers. The gold-colored “Never Surrender High-Tops” were introduced at Sneaker Con in Philadelphia in February and are going for $399 a pair.
“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 spokesman Alex Floyd said in a statement.
The Trump campaign has yet to comment on the DNC’s paying Mr. Biden’s legal fees.
• Mallory Wilson can be reached at mwilson@washingtontimes.com.
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