A Former Trump Staffer Asked Him For Help With Legal Fees

Apparently, the Trump-Russia investigation has put pressure on more than just the president himself. CNN reports that a former staffer wants Trump to help with legal fees incurred since the campaign, as the staffer was forced to hire an attorney to deal with questions posed by federal investigators. He's now reportedly requesting that Trump set up a legal fund to help defray these costs — although he also said that Trump never paid him for his work on the campaign, which is probably another reason why he's willing to go to the press about this.

Trump has a history of not paying contractors who did work for him, so it's little surprise to hear that he's acted the same towards his campaign aides. The aide in question, however, seems not to have expected it from his former boss. "In many ways, the Trump associates are the real victims here," he told CNN. "The world [is] going after them and Trump [is] leaving them abandoned on the battlefield, yet many lives will be ruined in the process."

In reality, though, no former Trump staffers lives' will be ruined by a circumstance out of their control. They easily could have done any manner of research on Trump and seen that he was a con man before deciding to work for him. They would have found plenty of information about the small businesses who he hasn't paid. Googling a potential employer or client is a totally normal thing to do, and in this case it definitely would have been worth it.

They might not have seen anything about the FBI's budding investigation into his connections with Russia, but unfortunately it's still unlikely that a man like Trump could be convinced to pay any costs associated with that just out of the goodness of his heart. Furthermore, him doing so could be a conflict of interest, because Trump's former aides might be asked to testify against him.

The anonymous former staffer who spoke to CNN, however, seems to believe Trump's theory that the whole thing is a political witch hunt. "There is still no stitch of evidence for collaboration or collusion," he said, despite reports to the contrary. The staffer also said that the investigation was causing more extensive damage for former Trump aides who might be caught up in it, saying, "at a minimum, political careers dead and damaged ability to work in DC."

Before he continues to paint himself as a victim, this former Trump staffer might want to take a look at the millions of Americans who Trump and his administration have already gone after during their short time in power. Trump is just as unlikely to change his mind about them as he is to pay any of his former staffers' legal fees.