Trump Impeachment: Will Taxpayers Pay For Trump's Legal Fees During Trial?

The House on Monday evening delivered the article of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, prompting taxpayers to worry whether they need to shoulder the trial’s legal fees.

House impeachment managers successfully presented the impeachment legislation to the Senate, kicking off preparation for the upcoming trial in which lawmakers will decide whether to convict Trump for inciting the bloody Jan. 6 Capitol riot that left five people dead.

Trump will be the first president to face impeachment twice. In his first, in December 2019, the House impeached him for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. However, the Republican-controlled Senate later acquitted him of both charges.

During the first impeachment trial, then-President Trump paid for his legal fees, including the White House counsel.

Trump cost taxpayers an estimated $3.06 million for the 2019 impeachment trial, according to the Heritage Foundation. The price tag included wages of more than 106 congressional staffers who worked on the trial from Sept. 24 to Dec. 13, as well as the hourly fees of six attorneys who were present at the hearings.

Trump will be responsible for his legal fees for the second trial, which begins the week of Feb. 8.

"The public official being impeached does not have the right to have the government pay for it," Robert Peck, an attorney from the Center for Constitutional Litigation said. "Last time around it was the Republican National Committee that raised the funds. It’s possible they’re doing so again."

The RNC organized a fundraiser to help cover at least two of Trump’s private attorneys in the 2020 trial. However, they failed to raise enough to cover his bills, which reached millions of dollars, before he left office on Jan. 20.

Through November, the Republican party paid $225,000 to the law firms of Jay Sekulow and Jane Raskin. They will likely pay the duo through February amid the second impeachment trial, people familiar with the discussions told The Washington Post.

“We are more than happy to cover some of the costs of defending the president from this partisan impeachment sham,” Mike Reed, the RNC's deputy chief of staff for communications, said.

On Jan. 15, the House Judiciary Committee revealed plans to hire two lawyers to consult for the second trial. However, both lawyers will be paid out of the government’s “operations account,” which has already been budgeted.

"The funding is all -- pretty baked in. It’s not like they’re having to grab extra cash to do this,” Steve Ellis, president of Taxpayers for Common Sense, said.