Former President Donald Trump is using his political influence to help his former personal lawyer – and criminal co-defendant – Rudy Giuliani – by hosting a fundraiser for him on Thursday. The event is expected to be a lavish show of loyalty as Trump rounds up donors willing to donate $100,000 each to a legal defense fund for Giuliani, who has racked up millions in legal costs through defamation suits related to the 2020 presidential election .
But for 17 other Trump co-defendants in the Georgia criminal conspiracy case against the former president, it remains to be seen whether Trump will step in with financial help. For now, most have to figure out how to fund their criminal defense related to their alleged plan to keep him in office, according to a number of people familiar with the case. All defendants face the same racketeering charge under Georgia law, in addition to other charges related to alleged attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
An expert on the state’s RICO laws pointed out that these co-defendants face some challenges in receiving financial support from Trump and his campaign.
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“A defense against the RICO charges in Georgia is extremely difficult to fund under any circumstances, but here Trump must fight not only a state case in court but also a possible removal effort in federal court,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at the Georgia State University. “And since PAC cash is a finite resource, diverting funds to legal defense necessarily comes at the expense of something else. It will likely be very costly and undermine policy work that might have a larger budget without the redirected money.”
Over the course of a criminal case, bills typically accumulate in stages, from pre-indictment consultation to post-indictment representation – which may include the preparation of motions and investigative analysis – to the time required to prepare and implement a criminal case Defense strategy is spent in court.
Noah Pines, a Georgia defense attorney, offered this estimate: Lawyers who charge $100,000 a month for 80-hour workweeks during trial only make about $312 an hour, a sum he said wouldn’t be enough if he took on a RICO case like that.
Multiply that by 19 – the number of defendants in the case – and you get the spiraling monthly costs.
During a trial, criminal defense attorneys spend an average of about 40 hours per week in court, plus another 40 to 60 hours in the same week preparing for what comes next. Pines compares the endurance of the lawyers who try such cases to the endurance of extreme athletes.
“You run a marathon every week, over and over again, in a case that’s going to last four months, six months is even longer,” Pines said of the RICO trials.
Defense costs for the Fulton County case could easily run into the millions, according to several defense attorneys who spoke to CBS News.
Prosecutors said they expect the trial of all 19 defendants to take about four months, and that timeline excludes the jury selection process. It is expected that at least 150 witnesses will be called to testify.
In the case of Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to all four criminal cases brought against him, the cases are running parallel and several investigations are still underway, not to mention the series of civil cases against the former president. But unlike others who find themselves in this legal crosshairs, Trump can rely on his personal fortune or political war chest to cover the mountain of legal costs.
The real estate tycoon-turned-politician has picked up a number of co-defendants along the way. In Florida he was indicted along with two of his employees, Walt Nauta And Carlos De Oliveira, for their roles in the case arising from Trump’s alleged misuse of classified documents after his presidency, to which they have both pleaded not guilty. Nauta’s defense team is currently at least partially funded by a Trump-affiliated PAC, which has paid his legal fees throughout the investigation, CBS News confirmed. A lawyer for Nauta declined to comment. De Oliveira’s lawyers declined to comment.
Trump has played a role in paying off legal costs that are piling up not only for himself but also for allies and aides who have found themselves in legal trouble. He has raised money through his political action committee, Save America, to fund Nauta’s defense, as well as counseling witnesses before the House special committee and the federal grand jury investigation on Jan. 6.
Save America disclosed in its mid-year FEC filing over the summer that it spent $21.6 million on Trump-related legal fees in the first half of 2023. A figure that accounts for the bulk of the roughly $25 million the PAC spent in total during that period. However, a source familiar with the PAC’s spending said before the midyear filing that Save America had actually spent more than $40 million in legal fees for Trump and his allies in several legal cases in the first six months of 2023.
In July, longtime Trump adviser Michael Glassner announced the creation of a new one Legal Defense Fund Its mission is to pay legal costs for Trump and his family, as well as his allies and associates, is called Patriot Legal Defense Fund Inc. The website is currently marketing Trump’s mugshot by selling merchandise with the image and the words “NEVER GIVE UP!” sold. ” and “NOT GUILTY!” on T-shirts, bumper stickers and coffee mugs. It’s unclear how much this fund has already raised because it is not required to make the same disclosures as political committees, nor has it been disclosed whether any of it has been raised this money was paid to the defendants in Georgia.
Given the financial burden these cases impose, Trump may not be able to support his 18 co-defendants in Georgia. In an Aug. 12 post on Truth Social, he blamed Democrats for “the Trump campaign spending huge amounts of money on legal fees.”
Trump is not the only defendant in Georgia pursuing multiple legal battles. Giuliani is facing several civil challenges of his own and has recently been involved held liable for defamation two Fulton County poll workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea ArShaye “Shaye” Moss. While the cost of damages in this case has yet to be determined, the judge ordered Giuliani to reimburse Freeman and Moss more than $89,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs related to a request to the court to compel Giuliani to comply with his to compel disclosure obligations. Giuliani must also ensure that his eponymous companies cover more than $43,000 in legal fees associated with trying to force them to respond to requests for documents and depositions, the judge said.
The judge noted Giuliani’s excuses and wrote that although Giuliani claimed that he was “having financial difficulties,” he had “provided no evidence that he was unable to reimburse plaintiff.”
A person familiar with his legal troubles said Giuliani was having financial problems in August. Giuliani appears poised to raise money by selling his longtime New York apartment, which is currently listed for $6.5 million.
Tickets for the Bedminster fundraiser are selling for $100,000 per seat. Some experts say that while the event doesn’t violate any rules from a campaign finance perspective, it still raises some concerns.
“In some ways, helping Rudy helps Trump,” said Richard Briffault, the Joseph P. Chamberlain Professor of Legislation at Columbia University. He says that while these contributions to Trump’s legal defense fund would not be subject to spending limits or public disclosures required of campaign committees, there are some ethical concerns. “Trump will be aware of this [the contributions] and he could be grateful to the donors. And if he becomes president again, this gratitude could be translated into government decisions.”
Jenna Ellis, a former Trump lawyer and current co-defendant in Georgia, has been vocal about the financial burdens of being a defendant. “I have been reliably informed that Trump is not funding any of us indicted,” she wrote in a post on Principle as Just a Man. So why doesn’t MAGA, Inc. fund everyone’s defense?
Ellis is one of several co-defendants in Georgia who have started crowdfunding to raise money for legal costs. As of this post, Ellis’ GiveSendGo page, which states that she is “targeted and the government is trying to criminalize the practice of law,” has raised more than $197,000 through the site.
Another co-defendant, Harrison Floyd, was the only defendant to spend time behind bars after he surrendered after reporting to the Fulton County Jail without a previously negotiated bond. Floyd, a former Marine and director of Black Voices for Trump, asked for a public defender because he said he couldn’t afford his own legal representation.
After his release from prison, Floyd joined Steve Bannon in his program “The War Room,” which promoted a crowdfunding effort for Floyd that raised more than $298,000, with a goal of $350,000. “I’m excited to be down here and fight the devil in Georgia,” Floyd said.
All 19 defendants in the Georgia case have pleaded not guilty. As the case moves into the next phase, CBS News reached out to each defendant’s attorneys in Georgia to see if they are relying on Trump PACs or other funding methods to fund their defense.
Jeffrey Clark, one of the 19 Fulton County defendants, has raised over $60,000 through his crowdfunding efforts, with a goal of $500,000. A spokesperson had no further comment other than simply sharing a link to its fundraising page.
A lawyer for Robert Cheeleywho, among other things, is said to have encouraged Georgia state lawmakers to appoint an alternative slate of presidential electors, said his client received no financial support from Trump’s PACs, the defense fund or any other crowdfunding mechanism.
Robert Legare contributed reporting.
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