Legal defense fund could be set up for WH staffers in Mueller probe: report

A legal defense fund for White House staffers being questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller could be in the works, according to The Daily Beast.

Sources familiar with the matter told the website that efforts are underway to help staff members pay for lawyers representing them in the ongoing investigation into ties between President Trump’s campaign and Russia.

The report comes as Mueller’s investigation has heated up in recent weeks, with The Washington Post reporting Friday that Mueller is looking to interview at least six senior and former aides to Trump as part of its investigation.

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The special counsel’s team is reportedly interested in interviewing former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, former chief of staff Reince Priebus and longtime Trump aide and current interim communications director Hope Hicks, among others.

People familiar with the investigation told the Post that the six aides Mueller wants to speak with were involved in internal discussions on Trump’s firing of former FBI Director James Comey and the events surrounding the dismissal of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Bloomberg reported in July that Flynn planned to set up a fund to pay his own legal bills associated with the investigation.

Hicks has become the latest White House aide to hire a lawyer to represent her in the ongoing Russia investigation, Politico reported Friday.

She joins a long list of current and former Trump associates that have hired lawyers, including Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner,  former campaign manager Paul Manafort and Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen.

Trump himself has assembled a legal team to represent him in the ongoing investigation, naming veteran Washington lawyer Ty Cobb as White House special counsel to handle the Russia probe.