# If the POTUS is impeached who pays for the lawyers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054 "2017-05-20T03:04:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/1 "2017-05-20T03:04:31Z")
If the President of the United States is impeached does he or she have to hire private lawyers at his or her own expense to defend him or herself during the trial in the Senate (like in a normal criminal trial) or would government lawyers like the White House Counsel be responsible? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/2 "2017-05-20T03:14:39Z")
[White House Counsel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_House_Counsel) > [@](#): > > **Responsibilities** > > The Office of Counsel to the President was created in 1943, and is responsible for advising on all legal aspects of policy questions, legal issues arising in connection with the President’s decision to sign or veto legislation, ethical questions, financial disclosures, and conflicts of interest during employment and post employment. The Counsel’s Office also helps define the line between official and political activities, oversees executive appointments and judicial selection, handles Presidential pardons, reviews legislation and Presidential statements, and handles lawsuits against the President in his role as President, as well as serving as the White House contact for the Department of Justice. > **Limitations** > > Although the White House Counsel offers legal advice to the President, the Counsel does so in the President’s official capacity, and does not serve as the President’s personal attorney. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/3 "2017-05-20T03:26:24Z")
The president has to pay for non-official expenses from his salary. And if he wants to preserve attorney-client privilege he had better not be talking to lawyers on the government payroll. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/4 "2017-05-20T03:43:20Z")
The most recent impeachment is that of Bill Clinton: > [@](#): > > More than four years after leaving office, former President Bill Clinton has finally paid off his legal bills, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss. He and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., owed millions to lawyers who defended them during the years-long investigation of Whitewater and other business dealings and helped in the Monica Lewinsky impeachment mess. > > The news was revealed in financial disclosure forms filed by Sen. Clinton that show she and her husband no longer have any legal debts and are now more than comfortable financially, with millions of dollars in income, mostly from a pair of best-selling memoirs… > > The couple had asked the government to pay some $3.5 million of their costs, but a court granted them only a tiny fraction in payment, about $85,000. They reported owing $1.7 million to $6.5 million at the end of 2002, and between $500,000 and $1 million to a New York law firm by the end of 2003. A year later, all of those debts have been paid. > **[Clintons Pay Off Legal Bills](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/clintons-pay-off-legal-bills/)** > > Books, Speaking Fees More Then Enough To Pay Whitewater Lawyers ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/5 "2017-05-20T03:45:37Z")
"More than four years after leaving office, former President Bill Clinton has finally paid off his legal bills, reports CBS News Correspondent Bob Fuss. He and his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., owed millions to lawyers who defended them during the years-long investigation of Whitewater and other business dealings and helped in the Monica Lewinsky impeachment mess. " (CBS News) She’s said that’s how they got into the high-priced speaker business for multi-national companies: to pay off their legal bills after leaving office. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/6 "2017-05-20T11:13:47Z")
The world’s most expensive blowjob? Trump can afford it - he is a billionaire isn’t he? ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/7 "2017-05-20T11:29:51Z")
It would be an ironic situation if a President first got acquitted in an impeachment trial, then impeached again for illegally using government-provided legal resources to defend him in the first trial, and then removed from office for _that_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/8 "2017-05-20T11:52:39Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > The president has to pay for non-official expenses from his salary. And if he wants to preserve attorney-client privilege he had better not be talking to lawyers on the government payroll. The President has a $50,000 annual account to defray expenses incurred in the discharge of his duties. Are there any restrictions on that, or could he use it to defend himself in case of impeachment? Edit - on reviewing **Past Tense’s** post, apparently not, since Clinton had to pay for his lawyers out of his own pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/9 "2017-05-20T13:13:55Z")
Nobody knows if Trump is really a billionaire. He’s made claims over the years of being worth as much as 10 billion dollars. Other sources give numbers more like 2 to 4 billion dollars. Some people who’ve examined what’s publicly known about his finances think that his worth is in the low hundred millions. For all we know publicly about his financial situation, he could be in debt. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2017, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/10 "2017-05-20T13:46:48Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > Nobody knows if Trump is really a billionaire. He’s made claims over the years of being worth as much as 10 billion dollars. Other sources give numbers more like 2 to 4 billion dollars. Some people who’ve examined what’s publicly known about his finances think that his worth is in the low hundred millions. For all we know publicly about his financial situation, he could be in debt. Considering how Trump can’t handle any humiliation, this may be the primary reason that he is not releasing his tax return/s. If his tax returns are subpoenaed, my understanding is that nothing would be released to the general public unless it comes out in trial (as it should be). Does Trump know that? Odd Russian connections, or other illegal dealing would come out if it led to an impeachment (I would hope). Don’t give a rats ass how much the man is worth. Every other statement he makes is a lie (being generous) But I can certainly see him as seeing the Presidency as a way to get out of debt. OTOH, he was fliting around on a 757. That would take billionaire type of money. Such a lifestyle can be supported by going deeper into debt though. If you have people that will continue to loan you money… ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2017, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-the-potus-is-impeached-who-pays-for-the-lawyers/787054/11 "2017-05-21T16:39:58Z")
Broadening the questioning: what about legal fees for the White House aides? **West Wing aides brace for big attorney bills** Longstanding conflict-of-interest restrictions limit White House employees from taking free or discounted legal advice, but aides who need lawyers have some options for getting help. > [@](#): > > President Donald Trump has deep pockets to pay for personal lawyers to defend him from the evolving federal investigation into his campaign’s contacts with Russian officials. It’s a very different story for his staff. > > White House aides bracing for subpoenas and grand jury summons have already begun making inquiries for legal help to navigate the unfamiliar terrain, according to lawyers who have been contacted, opening critical lines of communication in a bid to avoid serious harm to their reputations and careers, and perhaps even jail time. [http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/20/trump-administration-lawyers-fees-238631](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/05/20/trump-administration-lawyers-fees-238631)