Trump allies brace for massive legal bills if GOP loses midterms but have new way to fight Dem probes

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s allies are bracing for legal bills that could reach into the millions as Democrats ready for investigations if they win the Tuesday midterm elections — but the administration is preparing to fight back and has a new tool to drag out proceedings.The White House counsel’s office has added attorneys in anticipation of Democratic congressional gains and received offers of assistance from some outside law firms — as lower-level administration officials take out legal insurance to protect themselves.Trump was impeached twice during his first term after losing 42 House seats in the 2018 midterms and Democrats are expected to aggressively investigate a wide range of actions this time, including alleged corruption and business dealings of Trump’s family and relatives of other top officials.The scale of Republican woes depends on whether the GOP loses one or both chambers.A less-likely but possible loss of the Senate would multiply probes and associated legal costs.In a major development, the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel in August issued an opinion asserting that the president can assert executive privilege over “communications that he has with advisers who do not work for the Executive Branch.”This new assertion offers former officials, outside allies, relatives and potentially even businesses a shield to balk at demands for their testimony and documents — likely resulting in court proceedings that can take months to resolve.Officials and experts believe this assertion will dramatically slow Democrats’ inquiries, which in the House likely will be spearheaded by Rep.

Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on the oversight committee and Rep.Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) on the judiciary committee.“At a certain point, Democrats are likely going to be forced to lessen the scope of targets because right now it’s clear that their biggest risk is having a net of targets that is far too wide,” a Republican operative told The Post...