Sheldon Adelson sits with his wife, Miriam. | Patrick Semansky, File/AP Photo Elections Adelsons pumped $500K into Trump aides' legal defense fund The GOP megadonors made the donation at the beginning of October.

Billionaire Republican donors Sheldon and Miriam Adelson gave $500,000 to a legal defense fund set up to help aides to President Donald Trump that are involved in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The Adelsons each contributed $250,000 on Oct. 1 to the Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust, which was set up last year to help campaign aides pay for legal bills related to the investigation. The donation came during the height of the midterm elections, when the Adelsons were also the largest contributors to the Republican Party's political campaigns and committees, shelling out more than $100 million in support of GOP candidates.


The Adelsons were the only contributors to the fund between the start of October and the end of the year. The legal fund also has collected contributions from major Trump donors such as real estate mogul Geoffrey Palmer in the last year.

The new disclosure, filed Thursday, shows that the legal defense fund spent more than half a million dollars between October and December, as the Mueller investigation was in full swing.

Payments to the fund include $54,048 to Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, which reportedly was hired by former Trump campaign aide Corey Lewandowski to respond to inquiries related to the probe. The legal defense fund also reported paying $107,695 to Aegis Law Group, $100,293 to the law firm Jones Day and $12,249 to Berliner Corcoran & Rowe.