2016 ELECTION/LEGAL/ROBERT MUELLER/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP PEOPLE: “Michael Caputo was facing $130,000 in legal bills with no clear way to pay on the May morning that special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators interviewed him about Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election. Mr. Caputo planned to liquidate his retirement savings and children’s college accounts, and said the size of the bills prevented him from speaking his mind, for fear of even more legal action. Twenty-four hours after his interview with the special counsel’s team, thanks to a crowdfunding website that he publicized in a string of media appearances, Mr. Caputo had raised more than twice that amount. In all, more than 6,600 people have given his personal legal fund more than $325,000—so much that he is now helping pay bills for other former associates of President Donald Trump and conducting investigations of his own. The figures are tracked and posted publicly on GoFundMe.com, which feeds into his legal fund.”
-Julie Bykowicz, “Trump Associates Facing Mounting Legal Bills Turn to Financial Backers for Help,” The Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2018 5:30 am