President Trump's "loyal lieutenant" is apparently getting some loyalty in return from his longtime employer.
The legal team representing Trump's former bodyguard, Keith Schiller, has received more than $66,000 from the Trump campaign, NBC News reported Tuesday. Schiller, who was Trump's bodyguard until he left the White House last year, was one of the president's longtime fixers. Hired in 1999, Schiller allegedly helped facilitate Trump's rumored extramarital affairs, made McDonald's runs, and protected Trump from unwanted conversations, The Daily Beast reports.
But newly filed campaign records, reported by NBC News, show that Trump is willing to go to bat for Schiller, too. The Trump campaign shelled out to the law firm that represents Schiller in January — for reasons that Schiller's legal representation declined to explain.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Campaign finance laws dictate that campaign money can only go toward legal fees if the legal matter pertains to the campaign, experts told NBC News. Such funds cannot be used for personal legal expenses.
Schiller reportedly told the House Intelligence Committee that he turned down an offer to send five women to Trump's hotel room while Schiller and Trump were in Moscow in 2013. NBC News reports that he likely told the same story to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into the Trump campaign's potential involvement with Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Investigators may have asked Schiller about more recent events that are tied to the campaign too, experts said.
The Trump campaign has put 20 percent of its total spending towards legal fees in 2018, records show. Around $348,000 has gone towards the law firm representing the Trump campaign in the special counsel investigation. Another $288,000 has gone to a firm representing Donald Trump Jr. Read more at NBC News.
-
‘Congratulations on your house, but maybe try a greyhound instead’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How climate change poses a national security threatThe explainer A global problem causing more global problems
-
The 5 best TV shows about the mobThe Week Recommends From the show that launched TV’s golden age to a Batman spin-off, viewers can’t get enough of these magnificent mobsters
-
Warner Bros. explores sale amid Paramount bidsSpeed Read The media giant, home to HBO and DC Studios, has received interest from multiple buying parties
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial uneaseSpeed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B dealspeed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fineSpeed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in IntelSpeed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
US to take 15% cut of AI chip sales to ChinaSpeed Read Nvidia and AMD will pay the Trump administration 15% of their revenue from selling artificial intelligence chips to China
-
NFL gets ESPN stake in deal with DisneySpeed Read The deal gives the NFL a 10% stake in Disney's ESPN sports empire and gives ESPN ownership of NFL Network
-
Samsung to make Tesla chips in $16.5B dealSpeed Read Tesla has signed a deal to get its next-generation chips from Samsung
