Today on inside politics, winning was easy. Governing is harder. Hardliners get the outcome they want, Kevin Mccarthy is no longer the House Speaker. But they forgot to figure out what happens now. Plus the race is on. Jim jordan says he is running for speaker. Others are already doing Temperature Checks with members. Ill talk with two republican congressmen and ask who they would back. That will be in minutes. And a warning. Donald trump is instructed by a judge to stay silent and say nothing about that judges staff after the former president posts and then deletes an attack on a judicial clerk. Im dana bash. Lets go behind the headlines and inside politics. Up first, speaker for hire. The republican rebels may have succeeded in kicking Kevin Mccarthy to the curb, a very real question now is who can lead an unruly chaotic republican conference. And that puts its money where its motion to vacate is. You can apply now on the Job Site Day Book for Kevin Mccarthys old job. The title and salary are pretty good. But it is fair to say whoever gets the gig is walking into a toxic workplace. These are eight of your potential coworkers. Insurgents who history will record as helping engineer mccarthys ousted siding with democrats to do so. Mccarthy now the third shortest serving speaker to ever hold the gavel and now former speaker delivered a Late Night Invective aimed squarely at those rebels. Mccarthy says it is their turn to feel the heat. One thing i do know, this country is too great for small visions of those eight. One of the things when i was running for speaker that i said i couldnt get involved in primaries. I told the Conference Im a free agent now, arent i . I think im pretty good at electing people. And well talk more in a bit about those eight rebels. But first to capitol hill where Manu Raju Is Standing by. I know you are getting new information about one of the candidates for speaker, jim jordan. What is he saying . Reporter yeah, i just caught up with him as he is meeting with the texas delegation which is the largest state sdelegatio talking about his pitch to become speaker, saying he wants to unite the republican conference. But in a very significant comment he just made to me, i asked him about if he is speaker would he move forward with the new aid package for ukraine and he said I Am Sxwenagainst That that is further than Kevin Mccarthy went as speaker. Even though he put the brakes on moving forward as an aid package, he suggested that he could move with one. But the next speaker will have a huge say in the agenda and key issues like moving forward on aid to ukraine. He did say perhaps if the senate were to send something over they would consider it at that point, but he said ukraine is not a priority for the American People. One of the many things that he is saying behind closed doors as he tries to get the support to become speaker, and it will take time for the House Republicans to hash out who they want. There are other candidates as well. Steve scalise plans to run for speaker. He also is meeting with the texas delegation. And i also caught up with kevin hern who is a chairman of that largest republican group, conservative group, within the large hst house gop conference. He is open to running as well. Jordan an hern both made their pitch about why they think that they could be the next speaker. What do you say to moderates who are concerned about your politics, your conservative politics . I think were a conservative center right party. I think im the guy who can help unite that. My politics are consistent with where conservatives are across the country. What im listening from people, they want a different face, they want somebody to put policies over personalities. And in looking to see what we can do about listening a lot and seeing how we will move forward. Reporter kevin hern did not say that he was definitely running for speaker. He is simply listening to his members. He may run for other Leadership Positions as well. A number of members are looking to get into different spots within the leadership. And it is not just a game of musical chairs. This is so significant because it determines the partys agenda, their strategy, their tactics. Ultimately determines the policy that affects the lives of people here in the United States and around the world. So these key decisions will be made by next week as the House Republicans expect next week to nominate their candidate for speaker and then the person has to be elected to be speaker of the house. And that will be no easy task because five republicans can scuttle the plans for a republican speaker which is why these conversations are happening now for these potential candidates to get some support. Great reporting as always. I know you are outside that meeting of the texas delegation where those potential possible speaker candidates are. So get back to us if you get any new information. Here with me to share their reporting, kasie hunt, and also eva mckend, and also jeff zeleny. I feel like we never left the studio. We all just saw each other. Lets just start with that reporting from manu. Jim jordan is being very aggressive suddenly about trying to get the votes to be speaker. And the fact that well talk more in the next segment about ukraine and what they are saying at the white house. But the fact that he believes that this is a Good Campaign platform, if you will, to say im against ukraine funding. What does that tell us . I think it tells you everything. I think it also tells you where jim jordan obviously is positioning himself. I was just talking with another congressman Kelly Armstrong who is a strong supporter of Kevin Mccarthy who had reservations about ukraine funding. I think this has really become something that is coming from i would say i mean, jeff, youre on the trail more than i am talking to what i would call the maga base. But i think these members really there are serious Bottom Up Pressure on them right now. And i think jordan is reflecting that in kind of a broader sense. And in terms of his bid for speaker, have you ever seen jim jordan do anything in a manner that was not aggressive . Fair. No, but i also im just remembering the days of standing in the hallway with you guys back when he was making john boehner ares life a living you know what. And he was the Flame Thrower. And imagining him in the position where his life would be made you know what and not the Flame Thrower but the flame target, if you will, is hard to see. But as we talk more about that, jeff, i want to bring you in, he is not the only one running for speaker, Patrick Mchenry is the current sort of temporary speaker, if you will. Steve scalise is the number two who is also considering running. Tom emmer is the whip who is also considering running. Jim jordan is running. And then kevin hern you just heard manu talk about him, he is a conservative, leader of what is known as the Republican Study Committee which used to be the freedom caucus, like the most conservative House Republicans. And still big, still the biggest but those are the names we know now. My sense is from speakers races gone by that there can be sure prices. Dennis hastert did not think that he would become speaker after congressman livingston had to step aside. So that is a bit of history. But as we go forward here, there is a bit of time. Clearly what happened last night that was a bit surprising was to have a timeout, if you will, and let the steam sort of escape from the capitol but during that time very good way to put it. People stepping into the vacuum here and the letter jim jordan sent to his member, he is getting right to it. So i think the questions are here ukraine absolutely will be one of the issues. But also procedurally. There are some moderates who want the rules to change and the motion to vacate to change. Obviously some hard liners do not want that to change, but that is of course one person can throw out the speakership. So i think in addition to issue, there will be some procedural questions as well. But this is also a Popularity Contest in some respects. So how these members have treated their rank and file is very, very key. Tom emmer, that is why i think he and Patrick Mchenry and Steve Scalise. First, Steve Scalise has so much good will from a broad spectrum. His health is concern as he recovers from cancer. So those are some of the issues there. And is donald trump going to weigh in. He has been utterly silent essentially silent. For him. For sure. So well see. Lets talk about the retribution, potential retribution for those eight. And lets listen to what Kevin Mccarthy said among many other things about those eight who voted to kick him out. They dont get to say theyre conservative because they are angry and they are chaotic. That is not the party i belong to. The party of reagan was if you believed in your principles, that you could govern in a conservative way. They are not conservatives and they do not have the right to have the title. I dont think that this attack really lands on them. You know, these i think folks that voted to oust mccarthy, they have a lot more power than they once did. This is not the Republican Party of years past. Congresswoman mace, congressman gaetz, they can fund raise off of this without issue. They can rely on small dollar donors. So the threats from the establishment really ring hollow. And were talking about the next speaker, but who is to say were not going to be in this position several weeks from now. I mean, none of the candidates that have been floated so far can do a whole lot more anything different than what Speaker Mccarthy did. The question, very good question, is why are they waiting a week to do this. And part of the answer might lie in some of the comments that were hearing from these republicans. Very, very raw. Very angry. Chip roy, republican of texas, is one of those. He was on a radio show with Steve Deese Out of iowa. You have to listen to this. You want to come at me and call me a r. I. N. O. , you can kiss my ass. You thump your chest on twitter, come to my office and have a debate, mother. Im not going to [ bleep ] there are people buried over in normandy who deserve us to stand up for what they fought for. That is what im going to do. All of you [ bleep ] out there saying what youre saying on social media, you stick it. Im going to go down on the floor and do my job and stand up for the people who fought for this country. A lot of emotions right now in the House Republican conference. But i will also point out that lot of this, you know, some of the rationale for Ousting Mccarthy as speaker obviously stemmed from the whole fight over the budget deal, keeping the government open. And theoretically House Republicans wanted to spend the next, you know, 40 some odd days working on actual appropriation bills, doing the work of the people, trying to get the government funded even if those bills were kind of d. O. A. In the senate. And now all that oxygen will be up canned by trying to figure out who the next speaker of the house is. Which is why i was kind of surprised that they werent just going to kind of stay in town the next three days or so to try to figure this out. But that is a path that they are doing right now. And im also surprised that speaking of retribution, why we cant seen an Expulsion Resolution for matt gaetz yet. Maybe well see that soon. So there is retribution going on all over the place. A lot more to talk about particularly on this because the interim House Speaker is already taking heat for his first order of business which was targeting two top democrats. Also next, how does President Biden play this chaos on capitol hill. Well go to the white house and get reporting on that. Well go down Pennsylvania Avenue to the white house where they are trying to remain above all the turmoil on the other side of the government on capitol hill. They are of course expressing concern about how the speaker vacancy could affect major priorities like ukraine funding. Kayla tausche is live at the white house with the latest. What are you hearing from your sources in that building behind you . Reporter the president s Reelection Campaign and Democratic National committee highlighting the chaos on social media calling the gop a Three Ring Circus and posting any number of memes about House Republicans. But the president in his official capacity is not exactly taking a victory lap. Aides are trying to project an image of calm and Business As Usual for biden. And yesterday the white house released a statement immediately after or in the short aftermath after the house voted to oust mccarthy as speaker that said that President Biden has demonstrated that he is always eager to work with both parties in congress in good faith on behalf of the American People because the urgent challenges facing our nation will not wait. He hopes the house will quickly elect a speaker. Urging congress to get back to the business of governing especially with the Clock Ticking on funding the government in the next month and a half or so. To that end, President Biden will be giving a speech today on Student Loans and forgiveness plans. And the administration is still working behind the scenes to try to shore up support for ukraine aid. Yesterday john kirby the spokesman for the National Security council said that the administration is confident that the vast majority of complains do support that aid, that being house leadership, and the chairs of the relevance National Security committees, but he would not say how the administration viewed the potential speaker race and would not even address the speaker in the past tense yesterday. So interesting. Thank you so much for that, kayla. Back here around the panel, there is no question, we talked at the beginning of the last segment about the fight for the next speaker. Ukraine being a big issue, that there is no question there is concern be white house about what will happen, never nind kyiv about what will happen there. Part of what they have to get over in the short term is not just getting a new speaker, it is the discords that is going on and it is brutal and it is personal. One of the things that we heard from Kevin Mccarthy is kind of an allegation or story that he told about a conversation he had with nancy pelosi when he was trying to become speaker back in january where he seemed to suggest that she said she had his back. Listen to this. Nancy pelosi came to me, she was speaker at the time on the way out, and i told her i was having issues with getting enough votes. She said what is the problem. I said they want this one person rule out. She said just give it to them. Ill always back you up. I made the same offer to boehner and same thing to paul because i believe in the institution. And i think today was a political decision by the democrats. And i think that the things that they have done in the past hurt the institution. This criticism is so curious to me because it is not as if they already had a relationship where it would have made sense for that kind of argument or that kind of exchange to happen. But this i mean, this is one of the most baffling narratives i think to come out from the right, that this is somehow all democrats fault. Speak aer mccarthy did not even approach democrats in the final hour and try to make a deal. It was abundantly clear to everyone following what was going on chill that he was losing his right flank weeks ago. And that would have been the opportunity to work with democrats. Certainly interesting, but even if they did have that conversation, boy, a lot has happened since they had that conversation. And that is Speaker Mccarthy at the time sort of going against the deal he made with President Biden, opening an impeachment inq inquiry, on and on. So he was trying last night to project optimism, but he was deeply angry and wounded. And his relationship with nancy pelosi is essentially nonexistent. But i think the Bigger Picture here is if this next year and two months is supposed to be a referendum or a choice for the white house and for republicans and democrats, what all this is doing is sort of helping the president make the argument that this is not a governing body, this is not a governing party. And i want to talk big picture, but i did reach out to pelosis office about the allegation that mccarthy said that she said that she would have his back, and the response was pelosi has always made clear for mccarthy and everyone that she values respecting the dignity and integrity of the house. Nine months later it is clear that no one on the side of the republican civil war respects the institution. And when it comes to that, another thing that happened just barely 90 minutes after mccarthy was kicked out of the speakers chair, the Pelosi Office got an email from the temporary speaker, Patrick Mchenrys office, this is at 6 11 p. M. , going to Reassign H 132 for Speaker Office use. Please vacate the space tomorrow. Which is were kicking you out of your office in the capitol. Yeah. And doing the same to steny hoyer. Right. So people understand, these offices are highly cough veted. They make life much easier. If anyone has ever had to manage office space, you know how fraught this is and how just kind of nasty this will come across. They say of course this is the first time well have had two former speakers serving at the same time. And i think it goes to show you just the level of personal animosity. From mchenry. Between i think probably between mccarthy and pelosi. Mchenry is an interesting figure in all this and i think that were still getting to bottom of where this request came from, but i have to say, jeff, listening to Kevin Mccarthy there say, oh, nancy pelosi promised me this, like im really surprised that Kevin Mccarthy took nancy pelosi at her word there. Well, there was a lot that just came tumbling out last night which was very interesting. Everybody stand by because well go up to new york where donald trump is back in court today. But with new rules on what he can say and cannot say about his ongoing fraud trial. Where he follow those rules. That is next. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its the only we need. Go, go, go, go ah Touchdown Baby touchdown are your neighbors watching the same game . Yeah, my 5g Home Internet delays the game a bit. But you get used to it. Try these. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. I stole them from an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Heres why you should switch from chrome to duckduckgo. Duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesn■t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. Former President Trump is back in court today but now under a gag order. The judge in his Civil Fraud Trial put the order in place yesterday after the former president attacked one of the judges clerks on social media. And now donald trump is leaving court early today. Brynn gingras is joining me from outside the courthouse in new york. What is the latest . Reporter yeah, our colleague a source telling our colleague that the former president s plans are to leave at the lunch break of court today. So in about half an hour or so. He will head straight to the airport and down to maralago where he is expected to stay until a Campaign Stop over the weekend. Listen, he has been in court all morning and he has been advisably agitated at the reminders from the judge that this is not a jury trial after things that have been happening inside the courtroom. Something that he has complained about outside the courtroom as well. Important to note as we discuss this that this case does not allow for a jury trial. Case law from what the State Attorney General sued the trump and trump org on doesnt allow for it. That is why this is a bench trial and why the outcome will be decided by the judge. And the same judge that really angered was angered by the former president yesterday as you told your viewers there. This is all from a truth social post that donald trump put on about a picture, rather, of the judges clerk with senator majority leader chuck schumer. And in it, he without any evidence said that she was schumers girlfriend. Again, A Bridge Too Far for this judge who has been personally attacked by trump himself as well. And he issued this gag order saying no one is allowed to talk about or to put on social media anything about my staff. And he said there will be strict sanctions in place, although it is very unclear what that means. So as we look ahead and the former president leaving, to be determined when he returns. Will it be the time where he is a witness on the stand. Again, that is something that he has expressed he is dana. Well see about that. Youre probably in the same boat of skepticism on that. Thank you so much. And i want to talk to a couple legal experts about all this, Elliott Williams and also joey jackson. Joey, ill start with you up in new york. It wasnt just a social media post from the former president. He also in one of his long rants standing in front of the cameras at that courthouse on monday talked about this unsub unsubstantiated allegation about the judges clerk. Lets listen. I hope my lawyers go in and i hope that they fight him very hard. Because this guy is getting away with murder. And his clerk should not be allowed to be in his ear on every single question. You take a look at what is happening with her. She hates trump more than he does. Again, there is no evidence to pack up back up what he is d the judge clearly upset so he imposed the gag order. Yeah, it is problematic for the following reason. What you say obviously has consequences and what you say when you are the former president of the United States running for president and have a following like that has consequences as well. And so were talking about threats and danger to the public, potentially, by people who hear these things and internalize them and perhaps opt do something about it. So i think that the judge appropriately decided that dont say anything else because if you do, there will be more consequences of the variety of fines. So it remains to be seen whether or not trump will abide by it, but fines are one thing and certainly having the ability to hold him in contempt in jail, i dont think that will happen, is another. But i wonder if the judge comes to the point of if you have a defendant like this who is so flouting of judicial authority, so disrespectful of courtrooms and proceedings, would that be a person to engage in fraud and not care about the general public and not care about anything that goes on in court. So that i think ill be looking for. Joey, in a very elegant way, elliott, just basically suggested that this judge, again we can underline, this is not a jury, this is a judge. So he is really angering the judge which will decide the fate of it is not a criminal trial, a civil trial, but the fate of his wallet. He has an audience of one here, not an audience of 12. And he has gotten under the skin of that one audience. What it appears to be happening here is the former president and his team know they have lost, or at least are likely to lose the rest of the trial, so they are just playing to the cameras. There could be no other possible explanation for that kind of behavior because simply, you know, there is like one rule in court. Dont get under the judges skin. And that may be more of a rule with the runofthemill client, not donald trump who is clearly very angry. Absolutely. Absolutely. But again, when the judge controls your fate either as a factual or legal matter, angering him personally by making unsubstantiated claims about his staff is simply not the way to proceed. Joey, final word. Yeah, it is telling that the president may be departing this proceeding at least physically. Whether he tweeted about it and continues to throflout the orde remains to be seen. But i think the question is whether judge will say i had versely consider that against your client. This is a fraud case. He doesnt respect me, he wont respect anybody else including new yorkers and his deceptive business practices. Joey, elliott, thanks. Coming up, well speak to one of the eight republicans who voted to oust Kevin Mccarthy, Congressman Bob Good will join me. And plus congressman david joyce will also be here. Dont go anywhere. House mof representatives i without a speaker. Who will succeed Kevin Mccarthy . Joining me now to talk about that is congressman joyce who is a supporter of Kevin Mccarthy. Thank you so much for joining me. It is very clearly raw when it comes to the emotions up there. How are you feeling today and what are your thoughts on what you witnessed and what you were a part of yesterday . Well, dana, always a pleasure to be with you. Obviously you lit it right on the head as always, emotions are raw. And so i think that it was important that we did take the time out last night because i think it could have been physical after a while because the eight that defied the other 210 in the conference were Walking Around like they actually accomplished something and the rest of us were wondering where were going from here. So feelings are raw. And ive encouraged my members of the republican governance group, look, take this time, listen to everybody, dough home, go home, be with your family, pet the dog, have a cookout and next week lets regroup and take actions then. Because people tend to be a little rash when their emotions are on edge. Jim jordan announced that he is running for speaker. Could you support him . You know, ive heard a number of names. And like i said, i urge my group and i continue to urge everyone, including myself, to hold our powder, if you will, and wait until we get to the other side. And look at however many candidates emerge. And then talk about the issues then. But i tell you one issue that i wont let up on and i wont agree with anybody until they are with us on, is the fact that we cant have one person be able to do this. You know, you get a ring master who he and his buddies going out there and saying they are accomplishing something and fighting for the people. By doing what, by grinding the polic place to a halt . That needs to change. I wasnt a fan of it when kevin relented on it, but kevin thought respit wouldnt come up. But sometimes you forget about the perverse antics of some of these folks that they would rather fund raise than actually fix things. You mentioned earlier that you are happy about the house taking a breath, taking a week to try to figure out what is next. But it is true that the house is paralyzed for a week until that happens. I want you to listen to i think the person you were referring to when you said the rogue leader, matt gaetz, what he said. These people got to go home and cry for a weerk, do a week f bed wettingoff the fact Kevin Mccarthy is not speaker anymore . This institution is about more than one man. Your response . That is pathetic. Were shut down because of his antics. He knows that when you strip the speaker of his duty, were boy you powerless to go forward. Should he and over the seven be kicked out of the conference . I dont see how they are really be part of a conference when they are as thin on they come on the inside, listen to what is going on and then going outside and lob bombs in. Sounds like that is a yes. I think that again, im one of those who is a ground up thing. I think it is important that everybody have an opportunity to take in what is happening and then make a collective decision when we get back. But if it was up to me, id vote for it. It is a waste of time having conversations with these people and i think that we need to start working and Going Forward as a unified group. Congressman dave joyce, thank you so much for coming on. Next time well definitely have more time. Come back when you make a decision on who you want to be speaker, please. Will do. Thank you very much. Want to get the other perspective now, one of the eight republicans who voted to oust Kevin Mccarthy, Congressman Bob Good of virginia. You heard dave joyce say you and the other seven should be kicked out of conference. Well, were focused on select the best possible person for speaker. Well have a contest and a competition, not a coronation, for the first time in how long, we wont have a presumptive speaker, the sort of next in line where you have to fall in line and he cant threaten the throne by saying you are a challenger without fear of retaliation. Members can freely raise their hand and say they want to run for speaker. They can freely express who they might support or who they are favoring or what they are looking for in a speaker and well vet those candidates, debate those candidates and this will be a win for the American People youre not worried about getting kicked out of republican conference . Im focused on doing the best for the country. That is what this is about. That is what january is about. This is what this is about yesterday. This was a blow against the uni party system, the system that has given us 33 t 33 trillion i national debt, congress at 20 Approval Rating and 80 of americans saying were in the wrong direction. I want you to listen to what Kevin Mccarthy said about the arguments that you are making right now. Because he basically says that he doesnt believe you that you are a conservative. They dont get to say they are conservative because they are angry and they are chaotic. That is not the party i belong to. The party of reagan was if you believed in your principles, that you could govern in a conservative way. They are not conservatives and they do not have the right to have the title. Your response . Well, i can understand kevin is upset, but i dont think that most republicans would say that kevin is the one who measures what is a conservative and what isnt. Certainly if he had fought if our conservative principles, if his anger and his Fighting Spirit was intense toward the border and toward the reckless democratic spending and if he was as committed to keeping his commitment to bring our bills to the floor for a vote well before the september 30 deadline, to bring a balanced budget, to not let the democrats roll us with the Debt Ceiling Agreement or not roll us with the cr that just passed, that perhaps he would still be speaker. You have to decide who is going to be speaker. You will obviously get a vote as a member of congress. Jim jordan confirm thats is running. Will you support him . Im going to wait until we have the candidate forum. I have candidates reaching out to me. As i told folks who said you dont have a plan, you dont have a candidate, they said that back in january and before yesterday when we all knew nobody would be a public candidate until there was no speaker. So now well have that contest. A healthy competition so you havent decided who you want . Havent decided and there are several candidates i think are qualified and capable and experienced. Have stature and capability and influence. So the great thing is it will unify us to come together, well have to, with 218, hopefully 221 in the conference meetings, hopefully just a datas, but better to get it right than do it wrong quickly. Hopefully well have all 221 voting for it on the first ballot. Fewer than six weeks until the government shuts down again. If the next speaker cut as dealing with democrats or danes to get democratic votes to keep the government open, will you do the same thing to that speaker . The good news is well be together assessing those candidates and getting what is their plan, what is their strategy, what are their commitments, what will they do differently. Again, if 221 of us vote for that speaker, we have a vested interest not only to doing what is best for the country, which should be paramount, but secondly what helps to advance our conservative principles and do our best to stop the biden, pelosi, schumer regime. Obviously Kevin Mccarthy has left the incoming speaker in a tough spot because he didnt keep his commitments on that speaker has the deadline of the calendar. Congressman bob good, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate it. Thank you. Great to be with you. And ahead, 10 million, that is how much Hunter Biden Mayo H may owe his lawyers, new reporting on who he owes and how he will pay it, next. From chrome to duckduckgo. Duckduckgo is a browser you download to your mobile and desktop devices. Unlike chrome, the Duckduckgo Browser has privacy builtin. It comes with a private alternative to google search, which doesn■t spy on your searches, and it blocks cookies and creepy ads. And theres no catch. Its free. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you around. Join the millions of people taking back their privacy by Downloading Duckduckgo On Mobile and desktop today. New Exclusive Reporting just in to cnn. Hunter biden needs cash. He racked up more than 10 million in legal bills over the last five years and could spend millions more as he deals with federal charges. His allies are considering can fundraising, but that raises serious questions for his dads white house and president ial campaign. Cnns paula reid is here and broke this exclusive. What are you hearing from your sources, paula . Our colleague Kayla Tausche and i have been talking to sources over the past few weeks about just how much all of this has cost hunter biden because resources are an important issue when you are facing a possible federal trial. And weve learned that over the course of the past several years hes racked up more than 10 million in legal bills, and that comes from the fact that hes been under federal investigation for nearly five years. He went through a divorce. He had a costly custody battle down in arkansas. Hes also taken on a more aggressive litigious approach to his detractors. All that costs money. And his attorney kevin morris has paid for some of it but some other hunter biden allies had hoped that they might be able to do some fundraising, that perhaps theyd get some help from some top allies of his father. That has not materialized. There was also talk, we learned earlier this year, of a possible Legal Defense fund. But that never quite got off the ground. So how is this going to affect his strategy now . I dont think it is going to impact the more aggressive approach to his detractors. Earlier this year he and kevin morris decided were going to get a lot more aggressive, were going to punch back. They brought in abbe lowell and theyve been firing off lawsuits against people like rudy giuliani. That shows no signs of slowing down despite the fact that its very expensive. But looking ahead to a possible trial, maybe even two trials, they really have to do a calculation here because it is extraordinarily expensive to go up against the justice department. I was in court with him yesterday where he was arraigned on those federal gun charges. Abbe lowell told the judge that theyre going to ask for an evidentiary hearing. They want to test that case. Its unclear if its going to go to a trial. Also an open question about whether he will also be charged on tax charges that were supposed to be resolved with a plea deal. And im told that there is some hope that maybe all of this can ultimately be resolved with a plea deal, with a settlement. But as of right now no meaningful talks of that. You mentioned plea deal. They thought that this was all going to be wrapped up. Exactly. With that plea deal that fell apart in that very courthouse where you were yesterday and now its one of the reasons why his legal bills keep racking up. Thank you for that Exclusive Reporting, paula. I appreciate it. Of course. And thank you for joining inside politics. Cnn news central starts after a quick break