US President Donald Trump intends to spend at least $US430,000 ($A549,454) of his own money to help pay the legal bills of White House staff and campaign aides related to the investigations into Russian election meddling in last year's election, a White House official says.
It's the first such commitment by Trump, who has dismissed the ongoing investigations into whether his campaign colluded with Russia as a "witch hunt" invented by Democrats to explain Hillary Clinton's loss.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss the president's plans, which were first reported by the website Axios.
Trump and his aides have been racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees as Special Counsel Robert Mueller and House and Senate committees dig deeper into Russia's role in the campaign. Mueller's team of investigators has been interviewing current and former White House officials in their probe, and Trump campaign officials and others have been turning over tens of thousands of emails and documents to federal and congressional investigators.
The Republican National Committee and the president's re-election campaign have been covering some of the costs, including payments to the law firm representing Trump's oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., who in June 2016 met with a Russian lawyer and others who had promised to deliver dirt on Clinton.
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Trump has denied colluding with Russia to win the election and has voiced scepticism about the conclusion by US intelligence agencies that Russia had a clear preference for Trump in the campaign.
Norman Eisen, an ethics lawyer in the Obama administration, said the offer "raises substantial questions under federal criminal law and federal ethics law," including whether it might be construed as part of an effort to glean more favourable testimony and whether current federal employees are even allowed to accept such gifts.
