Trump complains about cost of Democrats’ impeachment lawyer — but GOP lawyer made more
President launched a series of Twitter attacks before public testimony began
Ahead of the first public impeachment hearing Wednesday, President Donald Trump complained in a tweet about the “high priced outside lawyer” that Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., picked to question witnesses.
There was just one problem: The Republican impeachment lawyer has made more this year.
From January to June, Stephen R. Castor, Republican general counsel for the House Oversight and Reform Committee, made $17,137.50 more than his Democratic counterpart, Daniel S. Goldman, according to House disbursement reports. Castor is questioning impeachment witnesses who appear before the House Intelligence Committee.
The comparison isn’t strictly apples-to-apples, since Goldman joined the House staff in February while Castor is a longtime Hill aide and already was on the job in January. Castor earned just $750 more than Goldman from April 1 to June 30, when both were working in the House, the disbursement reports show.
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Those are the most recent numbers available. The Chief Administrative Officer of the House has not yet released reports for the third quarter of 2019.
The president’s tweet also cryptically asked if Goldman had ever worked for Trump, suggesting that would be a conflict.
During the lengthy hearing Wednesday, George Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of state, and William Taylor, acting U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, discussed allegations that Trump stalled security aid to Ukraine in an effort to pressure that country into investigating one of his main Democratic political rivals, former Vice President Joe Biden.
Schiff, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, leaned heavily on Goldman to question the witnesses. And his Republican counterpart, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., relied on Castor. That’s a departure from previous oversight hearings, when the two lawmakers asked more of the questions.
Goldman joined the committee’s staff in February, after a decade as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York and a brief stint at the Brennan Center for Justice, according to his LinkedIn page. Castor has spent nearly 15 years working on the Hill.
Through June, Goldman made $65,591.67 and Castor was paid $82,729.17, disbursement reports show.
