Top chief of staff pick told Trump they'd need $500K in legal defense fees to combat legal 'exposure'

An investigative reporter who's been tracking the revolving door in the Trump White House revealed Monday that one of the president's best candidates to fill his chief of staff position wouldn't do it unless they were given a hefty sum to combat legal exposure.

Daily Beast columnist Margaret Carlson began her Monday evening MSNBC appearance pointing out how "bad" Donald Trump's staff must be if they didn't warn him that Nick Ayers, Vice President Mike Pence's outgoing chief of staff and the president's top pick for his own, didn't commit to two years in the role.

"There is a reluctance for people to come in," Carlson noted.

Along with a need for better aides, the reporter said Trump also needs better lawyers -- but attorneys like former Bush administration Solicitor General Ted Olson and white-collar defense counsel Brendan Sullivan won't have him.

"One of the best people who would have been chief of staff, whom I can't name, actually said, 'It's going to cost me $500,000 in legal fees if I go into the White House," Carlson said.

Host Ari Melber asked the reporter why that candidate brought that figure up and Carlson responded that they did so because "the exposure of it" would cost that much.

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