U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters ahead of boarding Marine One to depart for New Jersey, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 1, 2025. REUTERS Jonathan Ernst
GOP strategist David Urban said Tuesday that the $230 million President Donald Trump is seeking from the Department of Justice (DoJ) over past cases against him would have to be paid using taxpayer money, adding that the president was not “personally harmed” by any of the cases.
Urban told panelists on "The Arena with Kasie Hunt" that while he personally felt that several of the cases against Trump were "egregious" — pointing to the "Russiagate" investigation and New York Attorney Letitia James' fraud lawsuit as examples — that it still stopped well short of Trump needing to be compensated.
"This is taxpayer dollars, right?" Urban said during an appearance on CNN Tuesday afternoon to discuss the report.
Urban, who served as a Trump campaign advisor in 2016, added, “How profitable the Trump Organization is today, I don’t think it was harmed by any of that. He may be personally aggrieved and deserved an apology from some of these folks, but I think taxpayers paying that is, it’s probably not — not something that you want to see.”
Michelle Goodwin, a constitutional law professor at Georgetown University, said the situation has “no parallel in American history, just as there is no parallel when the United States Supreme Court granted Donald Trump and any future President absolute immunity, nearly for any kind of criminal engagement.”
“And certainly, the concerns at that time amongst judges, amongst constitutional‑law professors, given that that was unprecedented, what would that mean in terms of future conduct by Donald Trump?" She added.
Commenting on the administration bringing up charges against the president's critics, Goodwin said, “Now, it is important to note that this administrative appeal, that he has done for this, started not within recent weeks. It’s been disclosed [now], but it started in 2023.”
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