Impeachment of Trump Georgia: Who are Trevian Kutti, Harrison Floyd and Stephen Lee?

A view of the indictment is pictured at the Reuters office in Washington, DC, U.S., after a grand jury in Georgia voted late Monday night to indict former President Donald Trump on multiple felony charges August 15, 2023. REUTERS/Julio-Cesar Chavez acquires licensing rights

August 15 (Reuters) – (This August 15 story has been corrected to read “All three” in paragraph 3 instead of “The three men” because Kutti is a woman.)

The indictment against former US President Donald Trump and 18 others in Georgia includes charges against three alleged co-conspirators in connection with the harassment of election workers. The trio’s involvement – Trevian Kutti, Harrison Floyd and Stephen Cliffgard Lee – in efforts to keep Trump in power was first revealed by Reuters in a series of reports in 2021 and 2022.

THE FEES

Kutti, Floyd and Lee are charged with solicitation of false statements and witness influencing for their efforts to force Ruby Freeman, a poll worker in Georgia’s Fulton County, to make a false confession to election fraud in January 2021.

All three did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.

Trump has dismissed all allegations against him as a politicized attempt to prevent him from regaining the presidency.

THE BACKSTORY

After the November 2020 vote, Freeman and her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss were falsely accused by Trump and his campaign of illegally counting fraudulent mail-in ballots after they pulled them out of mysterious suitcases while working on Election Day at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta had. In fact, the “suitcases” were standard ballot containers and the votes were counted properly, county and state officials quickly confirmed, refuting the fraud allegations.

TREVIAN KUTTI

As Reuters reported, Trevian Kutti, a publicist, traveled to Georgia days before the Jan. 6, 2021 riots and showed up at Freeman’s door uninvited. Kutti told Freeman that she had been sent by a “high-level person” whom she did not identify to deliver a message to Freeman: Freeman was in unspecified danger “due to the election” and only had 48 hours to “get through.” of the problem” before unknown people would show up at her home.

In an Instagram post after this article was published, Kutti denied pressuring Freeman to falsely admit to cheating.

Kutti had publicly identified himself as a member of the “Young Black Leadership Council under President Donald Trump.” She had also claimed to work for Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, and that her clients included the Queen of Jordan. A spokesman for the queen denied any connection to Kutti; A representative for Ye said Kutti had no association with the rapper when she met Freeman.

HARRISON FLOYD

In a follow-up article, Reuters reported that Trump campaign aide Harrison Floyd, executive director of a group called Black Voices for Trump, told the news organization that he had recruited Kutti to meet with Freeman. Floyd said he then attended a meeting Kutti held with Freeman by telephone at a police station in Cobb County, Georgia.

Floyd told Reuters he was asked by a man he described as a chaplain with “connections” to federal law enforcement if he would be willing to arrange the meeting. He declined to name the clergyman or describe his connections. Floyd said he arranged the meeting to help Freeman. Floyd said the clergyman, who is white, wanted him to approach Freeman, a Black man, to discuss an immunity deal for her out of the belief that she would not trust a white stranger. Floyd and Kutti are black.

STEPHEN LEE

In September 2022, Reuters identified Stephen Lee, a former Illinois police officer, as the man who sought Floyd’s help from Freeman, relying on police bodycam footage and other reports. Reuters reported in December 2020 that Lee visited Freeman’s home himself but was turned away by the frightened poll worker. Lee, in a brief interview at his home in Montgomery, Illinois, did not deny that he had visited Freeman, but declined to discuss why or whether anyone had sent him. Lee formerly worked as a police officer in California and later served as a chaplain, comforting police officers and others after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York.

The persecution of Freeman and Moss turned their lives upside down, sparked a wave of death threats against them and forced Freeman to flee her home, Reuters reported. They later detailed their ordeal in dramatic testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives committee on January 6.

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Reporting by Jason Szep and Lindo So; Edited by Daniel Wallis

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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