Donald Trump not paying bills for codefendants but will hold a fundraiser for Giuliani: A former Donald Trump employee recently switched away from his Trump-supplied attorney and to cooperate in the Mar-a-Lago documents case. In the Georgia case, Trump is not paying the legal fees of his codefendants
Donald Trump Helping, Just Not Directly
Part of the story earlier this week that the former head of security at Mar-a-Lago had changed his testimony and implicated former President Donald Trump, in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, was that the man had dropped his earlier lawyer, who was being paid by a Trump-affiliated PAC.
It’s a frequent occurrence in mob prosecutions, for a person becoming a cooperating witness to switch from the mob lawyer who was representing him to a different attorney.
That also raised questions about who is paying the likely substantial legal bills for the other defendants in another case, Trump’s recent indictment in Georgia.
According to a report by CNBC this week, Trump and his “political machine” have not offered to help his codefendants with legal bills. Cases like this can cost defendants more than $1 million in order to defend themselves.
Jenna Ellis, the former Trump attorney who was named in the Georgia indictment, said on social media “I was reliably informed Trump isn’t funding any of us who are indicted.”
With that many codefendants, there is a high likelihood that prosecutors will try to get some of them to “flip” on Trump or other defendants. They might find themselves less likely to be loyal to Trump if he’s not paying for their legal fees.
Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani, another Trump attorney who was indicted in the Georgia case, has reportedly asked Trump directly for financial assistance. And it was announced Wednesday that Trump will host a $100,000-a-plate fundraiser for the former New York mayor. Trump will host the fundraiser at his Bedminster club in New Jersey, on September 7.
The invitation states that “Donald J. Trump invites you to an evening in support of America’s mayor Rudolph Giuliani.” The event will feature a “roundtable” with Trump and Giuliani, as well as dinner with Giuliani, although presumably by the language of the invitation, Trump will not be staying for dinner.
CNBC reported that Andrew Giuliani, the former mayor’s son and a Trump-era White House aide, had turned to Trump to raise money.
In addition to the Georgia case, Giuliani is the defendant in several different civil lawsuits. He was sued by the voting machines Dominion and Smartmatic, for falsely claiming that they participated in large-scale voter fraud, and also by a pair of Georgia election workers who were also named in bogus conspiracy theories by the former mayor. He has also been sued for sexual harassment by a female former associate.
The ex-mayor has said that he is “close to broke,” although attorneys for Smartmatic, which is suing him, made clear in a recent filing that they do not buy his excuses.
Giuliani, who had been under various investigations for the last several years but had never received criminal charges before, surrendered to authorities in Georgia on Wednesday.
“I’m going to Georgia, and I’m feeling very, very good about it because I feel I’m defending the rights of all Americans, as I did so many times as a United States attorney,” the former mayor told reporters as he left New York Wednesday morning, per CBS News.
“You find a prosecutor who has a better record than mine in the last hundred years —I bet you don’t,” he said in his comments. “I’m the same Rudy Giuliani who took down the mafia, made New York City the safest city in America, reduced crime more than any mayor in the history of any city anywhere, and I’m fighting for justice.”
The ex-mayor, who showed up to court along with former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, also had a mugshot taken when he appeared in Georgia.
Author Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Stephen has authored thousands of articles over the years that focus on politics, technology, and the economy for over a decade. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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