Lawyers at Firm Tied to Trump Campaign Donate Thousands of Dollars to Biden
Lawyers at a firm working on President Donald Trump's campaign have donated thousands of dollars to Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.
Employees at Jones Day, which has worked as outside counsel for the Trump campaign, have donated some $90,000 to Biden's reelection bid, according to Reuters analysis of donations given January 1, 2019, to August 31, 2020.
Records from the Federal Electoral Commission show donations of just $50 given to the Trump campaign from lawyers at the firm in the same timeframe.
These figures come from individual giving from lawyers, which relies on donors self-identifying their occupation and who they work for.
The numbers do not include donations made to political action committees supporting either candidate.
Reuters analysis shows a major gap overall between donations from lawyers to Biden and Trump, with $29 million made to the Democrat in the time scale compared to $1.75 million for the Republican incumbent.
Reports from earlier this year showed Jones Day being the top-paid firm working for the Trump campaign.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Samantha Zager told Reuters in an emailed statement: "It shouldn't be news that rich, liberal lawyers in Biden's pocket are desperately trying to make up for his lackluster candidacy or that every big law firm has lawyers on both sides of the political aisle."
Newsweek has contacted the Trump and Biden campaigns as well as Jones Day for comment.
The split in fundraising comes as both Biden and Trump continue to try and bolster their war chests in the final stretch to Election Day.
The Biden campaign announced record-breaking fundraising figures for September, surpassing the amounts raised by the Trump campaign. The Democrat reportedly raised $21.5 million in a single day following his previous debate with Trump. He has also raised record amounts in previous months.
Trump has previously suggested he could raise more money but does not want to be indebted to those that give funds.
"I could raise more money; I'd be the world's greatest fundraiser. But I just don't want to do it. Because then they call you and you sort of say, 'Hey, you know, they treated me good, I've got to treat them good,'" Trump said at a recent campaign event.
Trump has also previously rejected reports of his campaign running low on funding, suggesting this was "not true" and insisting "if it were so, I would put up money myself."
