Ex-President Donald Trump’s team is collaborating with American Conservative Union (ACU) chair Matt Schlapp to decide which of Trump’s former staffers who’ve been subpoenaed by the House Jan. 6 committee deserve some financial help, according to CNN.
The legal defense money comes from Schlapp’s ACU-run “First Amendment Fund.”
The ACU chair told CNN that he’s “in communication” with Trump’s team about who will and won’t get help from his pool. The ex-president himself is “more than aware” of the fund and is actively encouraging people to tap into it, a source told CNN.
In line with Trump’s demand for loyalty, Schlapp said the money won’t go to former Trump aides who agree with the Jan. 6 panel’s efforts to get to the bottom of the Capitol insurrection that the ex-president egged on.
“We are certainly not going to assist anyone who agrees with the mission of the committee and is aiding and abetting the committee,” the ACU leader told CNN.
However, whether or not a former aide gets the money isn’t necessarily incumbent upon whether he or she cooperates with the panel, according to Schlapp.
“We do understand that when you are young and you have your whole career ahead of you, you have to take the right steps to defend yourself and sometimes that can include having your lawyers talk to the committee,” he told CNN.
One of the recipients of the funds was former Trump campaign staffer Maggie Mulvaney, who is now a senior adviser for Rep. Carol Miller (R-WV), two sources told CNN.
