Trump's reelection campaign spent big chunk on legal fees in final months of 2017
President Trump's reelection campaign spent a large chunk of money in the final months of 2017 on legal fees, according to a report filed Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
The campaign spent $2.8 million in the final three months of 2017, the report shows, with $1.13 million spent on legal fees, representing 40 percent of the campaign's expenditures during that period. Some of the legal fees were paid to Jones Day, which represented the president during the 2016 campaign, as well as McDermott, Will & Emery, which represents the president's longtime attorney, Michael Cohen, in the Russia probe. The president's legal team has been negotiating a possible interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
The biggest single expenditure in that period was a $1.1 million payment to Parscale Strategy, which is a firm owned by Brad Parscale, who ran digital and advertising during the 2016 campaign.
In the final quarter of last year, the report shows the campaign raised nearly $7 million.
Lara Trump, the president's daughter-in-law and an adviser, said in a statement that the campaign finished with more than $22 million cash on hand and noted that it raised more than $2 million in direct contributions.
"Our latest FEC report is just one reflection of a fundamental reality: grassroots support for President Trump is stronger than ever," she said. "Never before has a President's campaign committee raised so much in his first year in office, and never has a President enjoyed so much support from small donors who continue to rally around him.
