In Trump Georgia Case, Defendants Rely on Donations for Legal Expenses

Petr Svab
By Petr Svab
September 5, 2023Trump Indictments
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In Trump Georgia Case, Defendants Rely on Donations for Legal Expenses
Former President Donald Trump arrives to depart at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after being booked at the Fulton County jail in Atlanta on Aug. 24, 2023. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The sprawling case against former President Donald Trump in Georgia has driven many of the defendants to ask for donations in order to cover legal fees. President Trump himself has dug deep into his campaign coffers to ensure his representation in this and other court cases he is facing.

While some of the 19 defendants have done quite well raising hundreds of thousands of dollars in a short time span, others seem to be struggling.

The case was brought on Aug. 14 by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. She alleged that President Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 elections, including through alternative slates of electors in several states, amounted to a criminal enterprise.

Among the defendants are former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who also served as President Trump’s lawyer; Mark Meadows, former congressman and President Trump’s chief of staff; several lawyers that advised or aided President Trump, as well as several GOP alternative electors in the Georgia 2020 election.

At least nine of them have turned to the Christian crowdfunding website GiveSendGo to raise cash for legal fees.

Mr. Giuliani is among those who haven’t asked for donations, but he’s been rumored to be running low on cash, particularly after he put his Manhattan co-op on the market. President Trump is hosting a $100,000-a-head fundraiser for Mr. Giuliani at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club on Sept. 7.

His son, Andrew Giuliani, set up a political action committee (PAC) called Giuliani Defense last month, but it’s not clear how successful it has been since it isn’t due yet to file its financial disclosures. Its treasurer, Robert Kiger, hasn’t responded to emailed questions by press time.

Crowdfunding Ups and Downs

The most successful on the crowdfunding front has been John Eastman, former dean and professor at Chapman University’s law school. He’s raised over $520,000 since launching his campaign about two years ago.

Mr. Eastman served as a lawyer to President Trump in several 2020 election challenges. He devised a strategy of using alternative slates of electors in contested states in order to have the Vice President reject the official electors.

Harrison Floyd, former head of Black Voices for Trump, has been the surprise crowdfunding runner-up, raising nearly $300,000 in less than two weeks. The U.S. Marines veteran living off a disability pension surrendered himself at the notorious Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Aug. 24, telling the judge he didn’t have money for a Georgia lawyer or bond. He was declared a flight risk and put in jail.

His case drew media attention, and as his fundraising campaign went online, donations poured in. By Aug. 26, he had a lawyer and a bond motion filed. He was out of jail by Aug. 30 and since then has been doing rounds on conservative talk shows, even considering a run for Congress.

Nearly $200,000 has come in so far for Jenna Ellis, former legal adviser to President Trump, who has since switched to the camp of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who’s running against President Trump in 2024. She’s unlikely to receive any support from the former president.

Ray Smith, III, President Trump’s lead attorney during the 2020 election in Georgia, has raised around $150,000.

“Smith fought tirelessly and advocated zealously for President Trump, the Georgia Republican Party, and the Constitution of the United States of America and is now being persecuted and prosecuted for defending freedom and upholding his ethical and professional duty in representing his clients,” the campaign page says.

Jeff Clark, the former Department of Justice (DOJ) official who helped President Trump in attempts to have the DOJ declare the 2020 election corrupt, has raised over $60,000.

Other defendants haven’t had much success, though.

David Shafer, former head of Georgia GOP and one of the alternative electors, raised just over $20,000 online. He’s also trying to pull in some cash through monetizing his X account with over 60,000 followers.

“Every time you like, share, or reply to one of my posts, you help fund my legal defense. Please do not let me down, trolls. Your clever prison jokes could save me from financial ruin,” he said in a Sept. 4 post.

Cathy Latham, also an alternative elector and former county GOP head in Georgia, has raised just over $18,000 so far.

Sidney Powell, former federal prosecutor who challenged the 2020 election on President Trump’s behalf though she wasn’t officially part of his legal team, has received less than $8,000 in donations from the online campaign.

Her PAC, Defending the Republic, finished the first half of 2023 with some $170,000 cash on hand, but it seems it hasn’t been involved in covering her legal fees.

Ms. Powell didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Misty Hayes, a former Elections Supervisor of Coffee County, Georgia, has raised just over $1,000 for her defense. She aided the attempt to have a data forensic company examine data from election machines and computers at Coffee County for evidence of vote manipulation. Together with Ms. Powell, she’s now facing charges of illegally breaching the election equipment.

Legal Defense Fund

About a month ago, the Trump team set up the Patriot Legal Defense Fund that should cover legal expenses for current and former employees and aides of the former president. It’s not clear how much money the fund has raised so far. Its website offers merchandise emblazoned with President Trump’s mug shot—a hot commodity after his booking at the Atlanta jail on Aug. 24, according to some vendors.

It’s not clear if the fund will cover the expenses of the Georgia defendants in particular.

Head of the fund, President Trump’s adviser Michael Glassner, hasn’t responded to emailed questions by press time.

President Trump has been covering legal expenses for his two codefendants in a separate case he’s facing in Florida.

PAC Money

As for President Trump himself, his PACs have been covering his legal fees. His leadership PAC Save America incurred some $22 million in legal expenses in the first half of 2023 alone and over $38 million since 2021. The Make America Great Again PAC seems to have picked up some of the expenses too, spending some $4 million in the first half of 2023 and about $15 million since 2021, though much of those costs don’t seem to be associated with the criminal cases against the former president, according to data from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC).

The FEC filings only cover financial until June. By that time, President Trump was indicted in New York for allegedly false bookkeeping entries, and in the Florida case as well. He’s since faced two more indictments, including the one in Georgia and another in the District of Columbia that also targets his efforts to challenge the 2020 election.

Legal Headache

Legal fees have been a major headache for Trump associates targeted by prosecutors since his running for office in 2016.

In one of the earliest cases, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, former head of military intelligence and, for a short time, National Security Adviser to President Trump, was forced to sell his house and later relied on donations from his supporters to pay his lawyers. Ironically, the initial legal team convinced him to plead guilty to lying to the FBI—a crime he later said he didn’t commit.

He recanted his plea after getting Ms. Powell to represent him, and the DOJ eventually dropped the case. The presiding judge, however, refused to dismiss the case until President Trump pardoned Gen. Flynn in late 2020.

Documents from Gen. Flynn’s case showed that the FBI leadership intervened to keep pursuing an investigation into him even after case agents found it fruitless in 2016 and decided to close it.

One of the FBI agents on the case later said the prosecution of Gen. Flynn was being used as a means to “get Trump.”

From The Epoch Times