Where the money is going, and not going, tells an interesting tale, if you have the patience to read up on it.
Trump’s apparently not paying for his ex-lawyers’ own lawyers. That could cost him.
A search of the Federal Election Commission’s database, which reflects spending through June 30 of this year, seems to confirm this. I looked to see whether any of the major Trump-affiliated/controlled campaign committees — Save America, his leadership PAC; Make America Great Again Inc., the primary Trump-affiliated super PAC; Donald J. Trump for President 2024, his official presidential campaign committee; and the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee — has paid for the legal expenses of his most prominent former lawyers-turned-co-defendants and/or unindicted co-conspirators. What I found surprised me.
According to that database, while campaign committees associated with Trump have spent tens of millions of dollars on Trump’s own legal expenses, at no point has any of those four committees paid the law firms known to represent Eastman, former Trump Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark, former Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani or Jenna Ellis, or Eastman’s fellow constitutional law expert and volunteer lawyer Kenneth Chesebro. At best, one of those committees paid $340,000 to a vendor Giuliani retained in connection with Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss’ ongoing civil defamation lawsuit against him. Moreover, according to new reporting by CNBC, a new legal defense fund established by two Trump allies to assist aides and employees with their legal expenses has not raised any funds, much less distributed them.
Asked by NBC News about Trump’s payment, or lack thereof, for his ex-lawyers’ legal expenses, the Trump campaign had no comment.
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Rudy is getting desperate for cash, as we've learned. He apparently could still afford a private plane to Georgia for his booking and mug shot (apparently 'desperate' is a relative term), but still desperate.
To recover the millions of dollars he believes he is owed for his efforts to keep Mr. Trump in power, Mr. Giuliani first deferred to his lawyer, who pressed anyone in Mr. Trump’s circle who would listen. When that fizzled out, Mr. Giuliani and his lawyer made personal appeals to the former president over a two-hour dinner in April at his Mar-a-Lago estate and in a private meeting at his golf club in West Palm Beach.
When those entreaties largely failed as well, Mr. Giuliani’s son, Andrew, who has an independent relationship with the former president, visited Mr. Trump at his club in New Jersey this month, with what people briefed on the meeting said was the hope of getting his father’s huge legal bills covered.
That appeared to help. Mr. Giuliani’s son asked that Mr. Trump attend two fund-raisers for the legal bills, and the former president agreed to do so, the people said.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for Mr. Giuliani.
Mr. Giuliani, whose law license has been suspended because of his work to overturn the election, has few sources of income left, according to people close to him. He earns roughly $400,000 a year from his WABC radio show, according to a person familiar with the matter. He also gets some income from a podcast he hosts, and, according to another person familiar, a livestream broadcast. The three cash streams are nowhere near enough to cover his debts, people close to him say. A legal-defense fund set up by friends to raise $5 million for him in 2021 took down its website after raising less than $10,000.
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Then there is Mark Meadows, who seems to be receiving money indirectly from Trump.
(NYT) How Mark Meadows Pursued a High-Wire Legal Strategy in Trump Inquiries
This winter, after receiving a subpoena from a grand jury investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Mark Meadows commenced a delicate dance with federal prosecutors. He had no choice but to show up and, eventually, to testify. Yet Mr. Meadows — Mr. Trump’s final White House chief of staff — initially declined to answer certain questions, sticking to his former boss’s position that they were shielded by executive privilege.
But when prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith, challenged Mr. Trump’s executive privilege claims before a judge, Mr. Meadows pivoted. Even though he risked enraging Mr. Trump, he decided to trust Mr. Smith’s team, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Meadows quietly arranged to talk with them not only about the steps the former president took to stay in office, but also about his handling of classified documents after he left. ABC reported that Mr. Meadows — like other senior Trump officials, including Mike Pence, the former vice president — had undercut Mr. Trump’s claim that he had a “standing order” to automatically declassify any documents that were taken out of the Oval Office.
Mr. Meadows, who now lives in South Carolina, remains an influential back-room figure in conservative circles in Washington. He is a senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute, where he is paid about $560,000 annually, according to the organization’s most recent financial report. In July 2021, a few weeks after the House voted to create the Jan. 6 committee, the political action committee aligned with Mr. Trump, Save America, donated $1 million to the institute. [Note that Save America is founded and controlled by Donald Trump.]
Trump’s apparently not paying for his ex-lawyers’ own lawyers. That could cost him.
A search of the Federal Election Commission’s database, which reflects spending through June 30 of this year, seems to confirm this. I looked to see whether any of the major Trump-affiliated/controlled campaign committees — Save America, his leadership PAC; Make America Great Again Inc., the primary Trump-affiliated super PAC; Donald J. Trump for President 2024, his official presidential campaign committee; and the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee — has paid for the legal expenses of his most prominent former lawyers-turned-co-defendants and/or unindicted co-conspirators. What I found surprised me.
According to that database, while campaign committees associated with Trump have spent tens of millions of dollars on Trump’s own legal expenses, at no point has any of those four committees paid the law firms known to represent Eastman, former Trump Justice Department lawyer Jeffrey Clark, former Trump campaign lawyers Rudy Giuliani or Jenna Ellis, or Eastman’s fellow constitutional law expert and volunteer lawyer Kenneth Chesebro. At best, one of those committees paid $340,000 to a vendor Giuliani retained in connection with Georgia election workers Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss’ ongoing civil defamation lawsuit against him. Moreover, according to new reporting by CNBC, a new legal defense fund established by two Trump allies to assist aides and employees with their legal expenses has not raised any funds, much less distributed them.
Asked by NBC News about Trump’s payment, or lack thereof, for his ex-lawyers’ legal expenses, the Trump campaign had no comment.
--
Rudy is getting desperate for cash, as we've learned. He apparently could still afford a private plane to Georgia for his booking and mug shot (apparently 'desperate' is a relative term), but still desperate.
(NYT) Giuliani Repeatedly Sought Financial Lifeline From Trump
Rudolph W. Giuliani is running out of money and looking to collect from a longtime client who has yet to pay: former President Donald J. Trump.To recover the millions of dollars he believes he is owed for his efforts to keep Mr. Trump in power, Mr. Giuliani first deferred to his lawyer, who pressed anyone in Mr. Trump’s circle who would listen. When that fizzled out, Mr. Giuliani and his lawyer made personal appeals to the former president over a two-hour dinner in April at his Mar-a-Lago estate and in a private meeting at his golf club in West Palm Beach.
When those entreaties largely failed as well, Mr. Giuliani’s son, Andrew, who has an independent relationship with the former president, visited Mr. Trump at his club in New Jersey this month, with what people briefed on the meeting said was the hope of getting his father’s huge legal bills covered.
That appeared to help. Mr. Giuliani’s son asked that Mr. Trump attend two fund-raisers for the legal bills, and the former president agreed to do so, the people said.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump did not respond to a request for comment, nor did a spokesman for Mr. Giuliani.
Mr. Giuliani, whose law license has been suspended because of his work to overturn the election, has few sources of income left, according to people close to him. He earns roughly $400,000 a year from his WABC radio show, according to a person familiar with the matter. He also gets some income from a podcast he hosts, and, according to another person familiar, a livestream broadcast. The three cash streams are nowhere near enough to cover his debts, people close to him say. A legal-defense fund set up by friends to raise $5 million for him in 2021 took down its website after raising less than $10,000.
--
Then there is Mark Meadows, who seems to be receiving money indirectly from Trump.
(NYT) How Mark Meadows Pursued a High-Wire Legal Strategy in Trump Inquiries
This winter, after receiving a subpoena from a grand jury investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, Mark Meadows commenced a delicate dance with federal prosecutors. He had no choice but to show up and, eventually, to testify. Yet Mr. Meadows — Mr. Trump’s final White House chief of staff — initially declined to answer certain questions, sticking to his former boss’s position that they were shielded by executive privilege.
But when prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith, challenged Mr. Trump’s executive privilege claims before a judge, Mr. Meadows pivoted. Even though he risked enraging Mr. Trump, he decided to trust Mr. Smith’s team, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Meadows quietly arranged to talk with them not only about the steps the former president took to stay in office, but also about his handling of classified documents after he left. ABC reported that Mr. Meadows — like other senior Trump officials, including Mike Pence, the former vice president — had undercut Mr. Trump’s claim that he had a “standing order” to automatically declassify any documents that were taken out of the Oval Office.
Mr. Meadows, who now lives in South Carolina, remains an influential back-room figure in conservative circles in Washington. He is a senior partner at the Conservative Partnership Institute, where he is paid about $560,000 annually, according to the organization’s most recent financial report. In July 2021, a few weeks after the House voted to create the Jan. 6 committee, the political action committee aligned with Mr. Trump, Save America, donated $1 million to the institute. [Note that Save America is founded and controlled by Donald Trump.]
