Better late than never

Associates of President Donald Trump drawn into the expanding Russia investigations are closer to getting financial help from a new legal defense fund, according to documents released this week by the Office of Government Ethics.

The Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust is being set up by a trio of lawyers to help Trump aides from his campaign, the transition and his administration with expenses related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, as well as the House and Senate probes examining Russian interference in the 2016 election and other matters.

  Politico

"The Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust." Perfect.

More than 20 White House staffers have given voluntary interviews to Mueller, including eight aides from the White House counsel’s office, according to a memo released last week by Trump personal attorney John Dowd. He also said 17 campaign staffers and another 11 people “affiliated in some way or another with the campaign” also have given voluntary interviews with the special counsel or congressional committees.

Maybe they needed this defense fund a little sooner.

According to the draft agreement released by the OGE, the fund won’t be used by Trump himself or his immediate family members.

Sure.

In a statement, OGE said the fund won’t accept donations from a range of prohibited sources, including lobbyists or lobbying organizations. Anonymous donors aren’t allowed, and anyone giving at least $200 over a calendar year must have their donations publicly disclosed.

Sure.

The new Trump legal defense fund plans limits on who can draw from the fund, including no payments for lawyers for anyone tied to “any charge or indictment for dishonest, fraudulent or criminal activity” unless the managers decide “the acts forming the basis of such charge or indictment were undertaken by the Recipient on behalf of, or directly in support of, the Campaign, the Transition or the Administration in good faith and without knowledge that such acts were prohibited by law.”

So, ignorance of the law, is a defense.

The Trump family should all be donating.  They're the ones who got these people in hot water.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.