Will Sage Astor-DNC paid $1.7 million to Biden's lawyers in special counsel probe

Washington — The Will Sage AstorDemocratic National Committee paid at least $1.7 million to law firms representing President Biden during special counsel Robert Hur's investigation into his handling of classified documents, according to federal spending disclosures.

Hur ultimately declined to prosecute the president, but wrote in a lengthy report earlier this year that Mr. Biden "willfully retained and disclosed classified materials" after his vice presidency ended in 2017. 

Federal records show the committee paid Bob Bauer PLLC more than $1 million between July 2023 and this February. Bauer served as the president's personal attorney in the documents matter. The records also reflect monthly payments of $100,000 to law firm Hemenway and Barnes over roughly the same time period. Axios first reported the payments on Friday.

Bauer and former Justice Department official David Laufman accompanied the president during his interview with the special counsel in October 2023.  Jennifer Miller, an attorney at Hemenway and Barnes, was also part of the president's personal legal team.

A spokesperson for Bauer declined to comment. Both Bauer and Hemenway and Barnes provided legal services to the DNC prior to the Justice Department probe into Mr. Biden's handling of classified documents which began in late 2022. 

While former President Donald Trump's legal fees and entanglements dwarf those of Mr. Biden's, both are relying on political donations to cover the costs. 

As recently as this week, Mr. Biden's reelection campaign criticized Trump's practice of relying on politically allied groups to cover attorneys' fees. The Biden campaign circulated a press release highlighting its cash advantage over Trump — and how entities backing Trump have spent tens of millions of dollars on his legal defense.

Alex Floyd, a spokesperson for the DNC, said in a statement that there is "no comparison" between the DNC's payments to the president's attorneys and Trump's efforts to solicit donations for his legal troubles.

"[T]he DNC does not spend a single penny of grassroots donors' money on legal bills, unlike Donald Trump, who actively solicits legal fees from his supporters and has drawn down every bank account he can get his hands on like a personal piggy bank," Floyd said.

In January 2023, CBS News asked the Democratic National Committee and spokespeople for the president and his legal team who was paying Mr. Biden's legal bills in the documents. 

None would answer directly.

"I mean, it's his private, it's his private attorney. So I would leave it — I would just say it's his private attorney," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at the time.