Trump Campaign Has Spent Roughly $1.2 mln on Legal Fees in 2018

The campaign spent $340,000 in legal fees during the last three months, according to the latest fundraising reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC). That brings the total spending for legal fees this year to around $1.2 million.

The money was divided up between at least eight different firms and the Trump Corporation. BuzzFeed first reported on the team's legal spending.

The majority of the legal fees, around $180,000, went to the law firm Jones Day, the firm that has represented Trump since the 2016 election and handled related litigation, The Hill reported.

Trump is also in the midst of a costly legal battle with adult-film star Stormy Daniels, who is suing him to get out of a nondisclosure agreement.

Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, alleges she had a sexual encounter with Trump in 2006 and was paid “hush money” through Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen to keep quiet about the relationship.

Trump later admitted to reimbursing Cohen for the payment.

The two legal firms involved in the fight against Daniels and her attorney, Michael Avenatti — Harding LLP and Larocca, Hornik, Rosen, Greenberg & Blaha — were paid a combined total of nearly $54,000.

BuzzFeed noted that the legal fees spent by the Trump campaign have dipped slightly since last quarter when more than 22 percent of the campaign’s total spending — roughly $835,000 — went to legal fees.

Rudy Giuliani, the attorney representing Trump during the Justice Department's investigation into the 2016 presidential election, is working pro-bono and was not paid, Buzz feed noted.

The campaign also spent about $150,000 on Trump-owned businesses, hotels and restaurants, the filings show.

The Trump campaign recorded having $8,361,603.28 of cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period.