Former President Trump’s fundraising committees doled out cash to dozens of attorneys last year, a major expense for the Republican front-runner’s campaign as he stares down four criminal indictments and various civil lawsuits.
Trump’s groups spent roughly $50 million on legal consulting in 2023, including $30 million in the second half of the year, newly filed federal records show, reminiscent of how his campaign and legal woes are growing increasingly intertwined.
The records reveal how Trump has ponied up millions to lawyers attempting to get his 91 criminal charges tossed, while other top-paid lawyers have appeared in cases like the sweeping civil fraud trial brought by New York’s attorney general.
Trump even expensed to his leadership PAC $7,500 he paid to a bail bondsman last summer after being indicted in Georgia. It remains unclear if Trump paid any of his lawyers’ additional funds out of his pocket.
Here’s a look at the law firms that took in the most money from Trump’s political committees last year.
Chris Kise: $8.97 million
Chris Kise, a Florida-based lawyer who was once the state’s solicitor general, was Trump’s top-paid lawyer of 2023, bringing in nearly $9 million to his eponymous office, Chris Kise & Associates, and the law firm Continental PLLC.
Kise has served as Trump’s lead lawyer in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case against the former president, which accuses him of falsely altering the value of the Trump Organization’s business assets for tax and insurance benefits.
As the primary trial lawyer, Kise repeatedly hammered in Trump’s core defenses — that banks wanted to work with the Trump Organization, did due diligence with his statements of financial condition and found no fraud.
He also fought against a gag order imposed by the judge barring Trump and his counsel from making comments about the judge’s staff, launching a separate legal matter to resolve the conflict.
Kise also represents Trump in the federal criminal case over his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving the White House, a matter that is going through federal court in Miami.
Clifford Robert: $5.29 million
Robert & Robert earned nearly $5.3 million for representing the Trumps and their business.
Clifford Robert, principal of the firm, represented Trump’s adult sons and other entities that are parties in the New York attorney general’s fraud case.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, both executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization, were accused by the state of being complicit in allowing their father’s falsely altered financial statements to be sent to banks and insurers to secure loans and deals.
One of the trial’s stand-out moments came during Robert’s cross-examination of Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer and personal attorney. Cohen opened his testimony by telling the judge Trump directed him and another executive to “reverse engineer” Trump’s net worth to reach a number the former president liked.
But when questioned by Robert, Cohen backtracked.
“Mr. Trump never directed you to inflate the numbers in his personal statement. Yes or no?” Robert asked Cohen.
“Yes,” Cohen replied, later explaining his apparent contradiction by saying Trump’s attorneys were “cherry-picking” words in his testimony.
In addition to defending the Trump sons, Robert handled several appeals throughout the trial, including that of the gag order. He also represented the Trump Organization for at least part of Cohen’s case against Trump’s business over unpaid legal fees. They settled that case in July for an undisclosed amount.
Harmeet Dhillon: $4.61 million
In early 2023, California attorney Harmeet Dhillon unsuccessfully attempted to challenge Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.
Dhillon’s firm in the months since has become one of the top-paid firms by Trump’s entities, including working for the former president as he defends against various efforts to…
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