Former White House lawyer says President Donald Trump could be impeached over $45,000 Natalie Harp gift

Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under former President George W. Bush, said President Donald Trump‘s decision to give a $45,000 cash gift to close aide Natalie Harp may violate federal law and could carry political consequences, including impeachment.

Painter told Newsweek that the payment may violate a federal statute barring outside compensation for executive branch employees.

The disclosure that sparked the debate

White House financial disclosure records show Harp reported receiving a “$45,000 cash gift for holidays” from Trump. The annual executive branch filings were made public.

Harp was not the only recipient. Communications adviser Margo Martin and executive assistant Chamberlain Harris each reported receiving identical $45,000 cash gifts from Trump. Oval Office Operations Director Walt Nauta disclosed a separate $20,000 gift.

Harp, Martin and Harris each earn approximately $150,000 annually, meaning the payments amounted to about 30 percent of their yearly salaries.

Painter’s legal argument

Painter told Newsweek that the aides’ prior employment relationships with Trump are central to his concern. Harp, Martin and Harris all worked for Trump before joining the administration.

“Employers and employees don’t have gift-giving relationships,” Painter said, describing the payments as salary supplementation disguised as holiday gifts.

Painter separately told CNN that a gift of this kind from an employer to an employee is “almost certainly not a gift,” calling it income instead.

In a post on X, Painter argued that White House staffers should not be treated like private household employees who receive holiday tips.

What federal law says

The statute at the center of the dispute is 18 U.S.C. § 209, titled “Salary of Government officials and employees payable only by United States.”

The law generally prohibits executive branch employees from receiving compensation or salary supplements from sources other than the federal government in connection with their official duties. It includes exceptions, such as continued participation in bonafide retirement or insurance programs maintained by a former employer, but specifically targets payments connected to government service.

Painter said the key legal question is whether the money was intended as compensation for government service or was a genuine personal gift unrelated to Harp’s official duties.

He noted that both the giver and recipient of an unlawful salary supplement could face criminal liability, with penalties including fines, civil penalties and prison sentences of up to one year, or up to five years for willful violations.

The impeachment claim

Painter went further, telling Newsweek that the payments could create political exposure for Trump himself.

“President Trump could get himself impeached for it,” Painter said.

Trump was impeached twice during his first term, in 2019 and 2021 and acquitted by the Senate both times.

Painter also said the legal exposure could continue after Trump leaves office. He pointed to a five-year statute of limitations that could allow a future Justice Department to revisit the payments.

The White House response

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the gifts in a statement to The Washington Post, saying Trump has a “longstanding practice of giving Christmas gifts to people in his orbit, including at times employees and aides, both in government and in his time in the private sector.”

Ingle said the gifts “have nothing to do with any of these individuals’ official government duties” and are “entirely permissible under relevant legal and ethical standards.”