A legal defense fund is reportedly in progress to pay for Trump team lawyers

Following the news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller intends to interview high-ranking current and former White House staff as part of his investigation into Russian election meddling, a legal defense fund is reportedly being created to offset the cost of retaining high-dollar attorneys such as the lawyer White House communications director Hope Hicks has hired.

The fund will allow third parties to cover hefty legal bills for the Trump team members under scrutiny, The Daily Beast reports, citing unnamed officials close to the White House and Mueller's probe. The lawyers selected "will likely bill between $500 and $1,000 per hour."

Hicks' lawyer is reported to be Robert Trout of Trout Cacheris & Janis, a Washington, D.C., firm. The communications director has worked with President Trump since his pre-campaign days and is among his most trusted staffers. She is known for keeping a low public profile, but has come to Mueller's attention — along with former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, and several other current advisers — because she was present during key events, like the crafting of Trump's misleading statement about the meeting Donald Trump Jr. had with a Russian lawyer before the election.

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