The Republican National Committee (RNC) has told failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump that they will no longer pay his mounting legal costs.
But as with most things Trump, there’s a catch, Politico reports.
To be lead counsel in the case of his hoarding classified documents, Trump hired Chris Kise, a former Florida solicitor general. But the Donald will have to pay the bill this time.
For Kise’s services, Trump will have to pay on his own. A person familiar with the matter confirmed that the Republican National Committee is not paying for Trump’s legal fees related to the FBI’s investigation and retrieval of documents at Mar-a-Lago. That’s a departure of sorts from the past. The RNC has, for example, paid for Trump’s legal bills involving New York Attorney General Tish James’ investigation into the former president’s private businesses. The committee would stop paying Trump’s legal fees should he formally declare his candidacy for president in the 2024 election — a step he has hinted at but has yet to take.
However, the RNC will continue to foot the bill for all of Trump’s other legal problems, proving that they’ve only grown a portion of spine and are willing to cave to him on nearly every other demand he makes. One wonders if they’ll be so enamored if and when he’s charged with violating the Espionage Act and obstructing justice, both of which could send him to prison for decades.
A just released document from the FBI shows that Trump and his attorneys are currently arguing in federal court that he has “absolute authority” on all matters of national security, despite the fact that he is not longer president, with the AP reporting:
A May 25 letter from one of his lawyers, attached as an exhibit to the search affidavit, advances a broad view of presidential power, asserting that the commander-in-chief has absolute authority to declassify whatever he wants — and also that the “primary” law governing the handling of U.S. classified information simply doesn’t apply to the president himself.
But as Yale Law School professor Oona Hathaway rightly points out, Trump is no longer in the White House and has no such protection:
“When someone is no longer president, they’re no longer president. That’s the reality of the matter. When you’ve left office, you’ve left office. You can’t proclaim yourself to not be subject to the laws that apply to everyone else.”
Trump, however, has never believed the laws of this country apply to him.
