The Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign have previously acknowledged paying legal bills for Trump and others involved in the Russia investigation. | Zach Gibson/Getty Images RNC pays half-million dollars to firm representing Hope Hicks in Mueller probe

The Republican National Committee paid $450,000 in April to the law firm representing Hope Hicks in special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation, new public disclosures show.

Hicks retained Robert Trout of Washington litigation firm Trout Cacheris & Janis as investigations into links between President Donald Trump's campaign and Russian officials heated up in the fall of 2017.


The RNC and the Trump campaign previously acknowledged paying legal bills for Trump and others involved in the Russia investigation, including the president’s family members. In 2017, the RNC spent $230,000 to cover the president’s legal fees and spent close to $200,000 on Donald Trump Jr.'s legal fees.

Neither had acknowledged paying bills on Hicks' behalf, and the new disclosure filed on Sunday with the Federal Election Commission did not name her. Such disclosures do not usually specify the clients or nature of the legal work at issue.

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The filing showed that the RNC made payments to Trout Cacheris & Janis of $275,534.09 on April 18 and $176,245.87 on April 19. Both payments were marked as “legal and compliance services.”

An RNC spokesman did not respond to requests for comment about the payments.

