WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 -- The bill Mark Meadows wants the federal government to pay is $150,000. The more expensive question is what answering it requires the Justice Department to decide.

Meadows, who served as Donald Trump's final White House chief of staff, submitted a formal indemnification request to the DOJ seeking reimbursement for legal expenses he accumulated during the overlapping criminal and congressional investigations that followed the Trump administration. The federal employee indemnification statute permits senior executive branch officials to seek government payment for legal costs tied to their official duties. Whether what Meadows did during the contested weeks of the 2020 election qualifies as official duty is precisely ...