Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Members
    • Subscribe
    • Sign In
  • Trending
  • Resources
    • Politics Extra
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Trump Legacy / Trump Had to Pay His Lawyer In Advance
Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!


Trump Had to Pay His Lawyer In Advance

September 15, 2022 at 3:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Wall Street Journal reports that the $3 million paid by Donald Trump’s Super PAC to his new lawyer, Chris Kise, was because the former president “was known not to pay some bills.”

“Mr. Kise avoided at least the issue of nonpayments by securing $3 million in advance and, if the case drags, the leeway to bill for more.”

Another reason to pay his lawyer in advance is that he won’t be able to control expenditures from the PAC if he announces a presidential bid.
FavoriteLoadingSave to Favorites
  • Bluesky
  • X
  • Threads
  • Facebook
  • Email

Filed Under: Trump Legacy


You're reading the free version of Political Wire

Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.

  • ✔ Become a member to get many great benefits -- exclusive analysis, trending news, a private podcast, no ads and more!
  • ✔ If you're already a member, log in for the full experience.



Recent Posts

Trump Signals He’ll Support Shutdown Deal

November 10, 2025 at 4:24 pm EST

“President Trump on Monday signaled his support for a Senate agreement to end the government shutdown and said he would abide by the deal, which includes a reversal of mass…

Quote of the Day

November 10, 2025 at 4:20 pm EST

“I can’t see into the future, but I see Republicans losing the House if Americans are continuing to go paycheck-to-paycheck.” — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), quoted by Semafor. Save…

All of Trump’s Tacky and Trollish White House Renovations

November 10, 2025 at 4:15 pm EST

New York Magazine has compiled a running list of President Trump’s most outrageous and ridiculous White House renovations. Save to Favorites

Cheryl Hines Says Democrats Have Been ‘Mean’ to Her

November 10, 2025 at 4:13 pm EST

“Cheryl Hines said Democrats have been giving her a hard time ever since her husband Robert F. Kennedy Jr. began his rise in politics, though the GOP has always been…

Trump Wants Supreme Court to Intervene in SNAP Fight

November 10, 2025 at 4:05 pm ESTNovember 10, 2025 at 4:05 pm EST

“The Trump administration on Monday said it still wants the Supreme Court to block lower-court decisions requiring it to pay full food assistance benefits to about 42 million Americans who…

Chief Justice Faces Career-Defining Decision on Trump

November 10, 2025 at 4:03 pm EST

“Chief Justice John Roberts faces a defining challenge as he enters his third decade leading the Supreme Court: how far to let Donald Trump’s presidency rewrite the bounds of executive…

Trump Threatens to Dock Pay of Air-Traffic Controllers

November 10, 2025 at 4:01 pm ESTNovember 10, 2025 at 4:11 pm EST

“President Trump threatened to dock the pay of air-traffic controllers who don’t return to work, as flight cancellations and delays spread across the country because of the government shutdown,” the…

Low-Income Shoppers Tighten Belts Further

November 10, 2025 at 4:00 pm EST

New York Times: “For the better part of two years, well before the federal government shut down and SNAP payments were paused, lower-income consumers have been slowing their spending, especially…

Trump Tries to Seize ‘Affordability’ Message

November 10, 2025 at 3:58 pm EST

“On the campaign trail, President Trump couldn’t talk about affordability enough. He vowed that should he retake the White House, he would tackle it on many fronts,” the New York…

Plastic Surgeons See More Demand for ‘Mar-a-Lago Face’

November 10, 2025 at 2:10 pm ESTNovember 10, 2025 at 2:11 pm EST

Since January, Washington, D.C. plastic surgeons have seen a wave of Trump insiders asking for overt procedures in line with the “Mar-a-Lago face” look, Axios reports. Save to Favorites

More Than Eight Senators Support Ending Shutdown

November 10, 2025 at 2:07 pm EST

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told CNBC the eight senators who folded on the government shutdown were taking heat for others: “There were a lot more than eight that were really…

Mike Johnson Hasn’t Promised Obamacare Vote

November 10, 2025 at 2:05 pm EST

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told Scripps that he and Speaker Mike Johnson haven’t talked lately about a House vote on a bill to restore Obamacare subsidies. Said Thune: “My…

Flight Troubles Continue Despite Shutdown Deal

November 10, 2025 at 1:47 pm ESTNovember 10, 2025 at 1:47 pm EST

“Airlines braced for further chaos this week, despite a deal in the Senate to end the government shutdown,” the New York Times reports. “About 5,000 flights were canceled from Friday…

Senator Faces Blowback From Her Daughter

November 10, 2025 at 1:40 pm EST

“It’s not great when your defiant kid says you are wrong,” the New York Times reports. “It’s a little bit worse when you are in the United States Senate and…

Hakeem Jeffries Backs Chuck Schumer

November 10, 2025 at 1:37 pm ESTNovember 10, 2025 at 1:38 pm EST

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries backed Chuck Schumer, his Senate counterpart, amid a progressive backlash to Schumer’s handling of a compromise to end the government shutdown, Politico reports. When asked…

80-Year Old Lawmaker Calls It Quits

November 10, 2025 at 1:36 pm EST

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) announced Monday that she is not running for reelection next year and will retire at the end of her term, saying that it is “time…

Trump’s Hostage Taking Worked

November 10, 2025 at 1:32 pm EST

New York Times: “Mr. Thune had been offering for weeks to give Democrats a vote on extending the health care subsidies. They only relented after the Trump administration had made…

House Republicans Will Pass Shutdown Bill on Their Own

November 10, 2025 at 1:19 pm ESTNovember 10, 2025 at 1:30 pm EST

“After a whopping 50 days out of session, Speaker Mike Johnson told members to begin traveling back to Washington Monday as he prepares for a Wednesday vote to reopen the…

2026 Democrats Pan Shutdown Deal

November 10, 2025 at 12:07 pm EST

“Senate Democrats’ embrace of a shutdown deal that doesn’t guarantee extended health care subsidies is already an electoral issue,” Politico reports. “Nearly every major Democratic Senate candidate panned the deal,…

Christine Pelosi to Run for State Senate

November 10, 2025 at 11:29 am EST

Christine Pelosi (D) will not run for her retiring mother’s seat in the House of Representatives, but instead will seek a California state senate seat. Save to Favorites

« Senate Punts on Same-Sex Marriage Until After Midterms
Customs Officials Have Copied Americans’ Phone Data »

Get Smarter About Politics

Members get exclusive analysis, a trending news page, the Trial Balloon podcast, bonus newsletters and no advertising. Learn more.

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • Some Final Thoughts on the Shutdown Deal
  • How Democrats Misread Republicans on the Shutdown
  • Democrats Get Nothing
  • Weekly News Quiz
  • The Harder They Fall

Word of the Day

Sandbagging: Sandbagging is deceptive behavior intended to lower someone’s expectations so that they can be taken by surprise later.

Read the full definition

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2025 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy | Corrections Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC