Why did the Trump campaign pay the law firm representing Lewandowski $173K in the last three months?

The Trump campaign spent over $170,000 to a firm representing former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in the Russia probe since July.

The New York Times reported that along with dramatic increases in spending in other areas, the Trump 2020 campaign also paid $173,000 to Mintz Levin, the firm representing Lewandowski.

Of the $7.7 million the campaign spent between July and the end of September, the report added, the largest single recipient was American Made Media Consultants, a company "created by the campaign to purchase digital, radio and television advertising, including online fund-raising solicitations." The company received $1.6 million in a total of 19 payments.

Set up in consultation with the affiliated Jones Day law firm, American Made is controlled by campaign officials and used "as a clearinghouse for spending that would otherwise be done by outside vendors who typically take commissions on such purchases," the report noted.

The Times noted that Mitt Romney pioneered such corporate entities with his 2012 presidential campaign and could allow the Trump campaign to conceal "precise details about its spending, instead just listing line-item expenditures."