Michael Caputo has been in the investigative spotlight because of his work on the 2016 Trump campaign, as well as his own business and personal connections to Moscow. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Former Trump aide gets legal defense fund for Russia probes

A former Donald Trump campaign aide with connections to Moscow is getting help to pay what he says are mounting legal fees tied to the Russia investigations.

Associates of Michael Caputo have set up a new fund to help cover some of Caputo’s $125,000 in estimated costs connected to being a witness for multiple congressional investigations tied to the 2016 presidential campaign, as well as for special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.


Caputo testified last July to the House Intelligence Committee, and his communications firm said Wednesday he’s still expecting calls to answer questions from Mueller and two Senate committees.

The Buffalo-based strategist worked on Trump’s campaign from November 2015 to June 2016, when he was ousted for posting a tweet celebrating the firing of Corey Lewandowski as Trump’s campaign manager. A protégé of GOP operative Roger Stone, Caputo at the time of his resignation was serving on Trump’s bare-bones campaign team as director of communications for caucus operations for the Republican National Convention.

Caputo has been in the investigative spotlight because of his work on the Trump campaign, as well as his own business and personal connections to Moscow. He lived in Russia in the 1990s, claiming to work with the Kremlin. In the early 2000s, Caputo worked as a public relations adviser to a subsidiary of Gazprom, the state-owned Russian energy conglomerate.

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The former Trump campaign official has also repeatedly denounced the Russia probes. In an interview with CNN last July, Caputo said he was unaware of any Trump campaign discussions about Russian help during the 2016 presidential election. “I heard nothing of the kind,” he said.

Mounting legal expenses have been a recurring issue for Trump-connected staffers who have been pulled into the Russia probes — with donations serving as a useful resource to help the aides. Former New York GOP Rep. Nan Hayworth was listed as the lead administrator for the Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust LLC, a Delaware-based fund established in February and available to both current and former Trump administration and campaign aides.

Relatives of Michael Flynn have arranged a legal defense fund for the former Trump national security adviser who pleaded guilty last December for lying to the FBI. In an email, Flynn’s brother, Joseph Flynn, declined to disclose how much has been raised “as a matter of principle.”

Stone last summer also set up his own fund to pay his legal bills, as well as for his defense in a separate civil lawsuit alleging he played a role in sharing the Democrats’ hacked information during the 2016 campaign. In an email Wednesday, Stone said he has so far raised $85,000, well short of a total bill that has exceeded $500,000.

Caputo has often spoken about his funding challenges, telling reporters he was going to liquidate his kids’ college fund to pay for his attorney Dennis Vacco, a former U.S. attorney and New York state attorney general.

The GoFundMe page for Caputo — created on Sunday — was established both for small and large donations and for people who want to remain anonymous. As of Wednesday afternoon, it had so far raised $835 toward a $100,000 goal. Another trust account is also set up for mail donations.

While some of the former Trump aides who have faced criminal charges for their roles in the Russia probe have been forced to stay out of the public eye, Caputo has appeared frequently on cable networks and remains a contributor to a local talk radio show in New York.

He’s also the managing director of Zeppelin Communications, a PR firm with offices in Buffalo, Miami Beach and previously in Moscow. Last March, before Mueller’s appointment, he sent letters to several Washington-based public affairs and trade associations looking for business. Caputo also registered last August as a lobbyist on behalf of a Washington law firm representing victims of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 who are still seeking compensation from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, who sparred last summer with Caputo during his appearance before the House panel, laughed when asked by POLITICO on Wednesday about the new legal defense fund. “He needs one,” she said.

Kyle Cheney contributed to this report.