The professional association for the nation’s top diplomats is raising money to cover the legal bills of ambassadors and other Foreign Service members caught up in the impeachment inquiry targeting President Trump.
The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) said Monday it is now accepting donations to its Legal Defense Fund which “can provide financial support which assists the member in retaining an outside attorney with expertise in a particular area of law.”
“Unfortunately, this is one of those times,” AFSA said in a recent press release. “We have members in need as a result of the ongoing congressional impeachment investigation.”
Many Foreign Service members, including the past and present ambassadors to Ukraine, have agreed to talk to House investigators, despite calls from President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo not to cooperate with what they said is a partisan probe by Democrats.
Many of the witnesses, both anonymous and public, who testify before congressional committees can run up hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees to be represented for hearings that last several hours.
“We defend our members, and we defend the Foreign Service as a whole. When you join AFSA, we take on an obligation to defend you when you need us,” association President Eric Rubin said in a message to members posted on the group’s website Monday.
According to the latest data for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, lawyers can charge between $319 to $637 per hour.
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