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'Trump isn't funding any of us': Co-defendants in Georgia case are struggling with mounting legal bills

www.cnn.com 'Trump isn't funding any of us': Co-defendants in Georgia case are struggling with mounting legal bills | CNN Politics

Some of Donald Trump’s co-defendants in the sprawling election subversion case in Georgia are trying all sorts of ways to fund their mounting legal bills – yet the costs of the 2020 election fallout may quickly exceed their abilities to pay.

At least four have turned to crowdfunding online, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for defense lawyers. One now has a political action committee to help with legal fees. Another has an ally in Congress vowing to support his legal defense. While another ended up spending nearly a week in jail because he initially couldn’t afford to hire an attorney.

Trump has covered the legal bills of aides, advisers and employees during the House select committee’s probe into January 6, 2021, and federal investigations, including his two co-defendants in the classified documents case, Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, both of whom work for the former president.

But there is no sign yet that Trump intends to do so for any of his co-defendants in the Georgia case, which alleges that he and others engaged in a criminal conspiracy to subvert the state’s 2020 election results. In fact, Trump has publicly distanced himself from them, telling Newsmax he doesn’t know “a lot of these people.”

97 comments

He's never going to pay to help any of these people because he believes they are supposed to go to jail for him. He believes that's part of the "plan" that only exists in his head.

He has even expressed the opinion on record that he thinks any loyal Republican should always take jail time to protect him and never speak against him. He really does think he's a mafia boss
- It's amazing how far narcissism can go when left unchecked.
  
  I mean the dude lived in a giant gold tower with his name written across it before he was made one of the most powerful people in the world.
  
  And he's a teetotaler. I can't even imagine what would have happened if he'd gotten into cocaine or something.
- “Look out for number one” except number one is always Trump.
  
  And you're always number two.
It's baffling how many faces a single leopard can eat.
- Probably should have started with a small leopard rather than choosing to back an obese leopard with a looong track record of chawing on people's countenances.
"Trump’s sons, Eric and Don Jr, have helped with the fundraising around the legal defense fund created in July, which is intended to support legal costs of Trump’s associates and has begun to see financial pledges, the source said."

Everything should be fine, the people who steal from charities are in top of it
- Come on now, it was sick children. Who even cares about kids?
  
  And veterans
  
  We only care about the foetus
That's because Trump's defense will be throwing you morons under the bus.
- Exactly. I'd assume he paid for the legal fees of those staffers because they were either still useful to him, or they had something on him. In other words, he paid because he thought he'd get something out of it.
  
  These other random people have served their purpose to him and haven't got anything more useful to extract, or at least nothing worth more than the legal fees, so they can quite literally go hang as far as Trump's concerned.
  
  I'm not quite sure why some people are still surprised that Trump operates like this, but like you said they're morons so that probably covers most of it lol
He doesn't pay his own lawyers, why would he pay someone else's?
Well it's time these idiots flipped on him.
- Probably too late. If the DA doesn't need anything they have, they are not going to offer them anything to flip. IANAL, but as I understand it, it's generally just the first one to flip that gets a deal. Everyone else is fucked unless they know something that the first guy to flip didn't.
  
  Is shouting "I ANAL" really the best way to tell people that you're not a lawyer? Lol
  
  Yeah especially when you start to get down to the randos who just showed up because they saw it on Facebook or whatever. They don't really have anything useful to add at all, so might as well throw the book at them.
- Seriously. How are these people heaping loyalty on someone who gives none back?
  
  There's a name for them "flying monkeys"
  
  I looked into it, what makes people back this guy against all better sense. I think I know why they're doing it.
  
  It's because they're stupid.
- If they haven't seen through it until now, they never will
"While another ended up spending nearly a week in jail because he initially couldn’t afford to hire an attorney."

Regardless of context, this sentence is so dystopian and fucked up.
- Did he forego the free council?
  
  He was arguing the cost would break him and his family, so I think the issue was that he had too much wealth to have one readily appointed.
Cop a plea. Legal fees will come to an abrupt halt.
- That would require them to admit they are wrong. Can't keep the grift up if they do that!
In fact, Trump has publicly distanced himself from them, telling Newsmax he doesn’t know “a lot of these people.”

Wow, that is one hell of a breakup line.

Nothing quite like finding out you were the one night affair. After you just helped him bury the body.
- I still can't wrap my head around why these people are willing to commit multiple felonies for Donald Trump, of all people.
  
  They thought he'd be king and would then make them lords LOL. Was never going to happen whether Trump managed to steal the election or not.
  
  Every one of them have joined a stupid cult like group for that sense of belonging and affirming their place in the group/world.
  
  He plays on that. It works. They'll follow one idiot, so they'll follow another.
  
  And their value system - as shown for republicans - is very upside-down: Trump has validity because he's in the group, and the group is great because he's in it and so he's allowed in it. It's seemingly not the other way around where he can't join the group as a cad and a cheat. It's amazingly circular too.
  
  So yeah: joiners are his thing, and he gives them all the (little-s) social security they crave at the mere cost of them committing treason for him and going to jail.
  
  It's a big GQP tent, but one of the biggest tent poles is racism
Trump had to go to the bail bondsman just like the rest of them did. What does that say about Trump's ability to pay for other's legal fees? If he can't front the cash for bail directly himself, what makes these clowns think they are special?
- Trump has a reputation to uphold (that he doesn't pay what he owes)
  
  It could be like the Lannisters; except, instead of remembering their debts to get payback, they just celebrate them and the fools they've fleeced?
- He's got this thing. .with his checking account It takes a few days to move the money And he doesn't have direct deposit.
Anyone who genuinely believed that Trump was going to pay their bills could probably use that as a good starting point for building an insanity defense.
He's probably not even paying his own lawyers, so...
- I think he's been forced to pay them up front.
  
  Would a lawyer stupid enough to take Trump as a client be smart enough to demand payment up front? I wonder.
face, meet leopard
LPT: if you don't commit crimes, you don't have to worry about paying legal fees!
- This is not true.
  
  Well you have to worry about it less, at least
  
  True. Innocent people have to pay legal bills all the time to prove it.
- Aka “Stop breaking the law, asshole!”
Jesus.

Most of these people that went along with Trump are actually marginally intelligent... and yet they trusted him to pay his bills.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
- They didn't just trust him to pay his bills, they trusted them to pay their bills. How gullible can you be?
- People who are with Trump and the word intelligence does not mesh.
  
  Unfortunately, it absolutely does.
  
  These people aren't stupid, and they leveraged his presidency perfectly. They were remiss in their failure to pick up a history book because they seem honestly shocked that Trump, while he demands loyalty, shows loyalty to absolutely no one but himself.
  
  Yeah, plenty of smart people are also idiots.
  
  Ben Carson used to be a world class neurosurgeon, Ted Cruz was educated at Yale and Princeton and Rand Paul is technically still a doctor. All of them also colossal morons.
tiny violin playing
- Looks like a cello. The violin would have a chin-rest near the bridge and thus tucks under the chin.
  
  But this is gold.
i really can't believe that big, brave Donald isn't in there doing everything he can for other people.. that's just not like a big, brave boy.. a big, brave boy should be standing up for his friends.. i thought a big, brave boy like Donald would protect his friends..

maybe he's just a scared, crying little pussy, and so are all of his supporters
You don't get rich helping others.
- Most of trumps net worth came from his father’s wealth and the natural apretiation that happens over time.
  
  This is despite his frequently shitty business decisions.
  
  There's a pretty good argument that since 2016 most of his wealth has come from fundraising and PACs.
Can you overdose on schadenfreude?
Reminds me of that arc in Breaking Bad where they had to keep making money to pay off people in jail to keep them from flipping and trying for a plea. I forget how it ended though.
- They all got killed at once by the Neo Nazis. That's not definitely off the cards here.
  
  Oh yeah, thanks for reminding me. They were all murdered in prison so they wouldn't talk. Looks like we're gunna see a few more Epsteins.
- It ended very quickly.
Am I supposed to feel some sort of empathy here?
- Have pity on them, they conspired with the leopard with the idea that it wouldn't eat their face!
  
  Alas, the leopard is always hungry
- Nah, schadenfreude.
Surprised Pikachu ate their faces.
- I didn't think that the leopard would eat my face!
Shock. Man who doesn't pay his own lawyers lied about paying for other people's lawyers.
lol, no shit
ha, are these the only people who didnt see this coming? trump has never paid his bills, hes certainly not paying anyone elses
- Not too mention he got a bondsman and loans to cover bail.
The conned meet the con man.
Yeah doh!

It's the same sad song over and over... Trump uses somebody else to do his dirty work, then throws them under the bus. If there is no bus he'll goddamn get one.

Why would anyone be stupid enough to work for Trump? It's a career or life ender and a guaranteed jail sentence

Edit: he even on multiple occasions didn't pay his lawyers. Why do people work with him?
Remember when the IT guy at mar a lago switched to states evidence when he got his own lawyer? Yeah - you probably don’t want trump’s lawyers anyway lol.
Thoughts and prayers
Lol, fuck ‘em.
Hey guys, the lord and savior Elon will pay your bills.

Just say you got in shit for posting stupid shit on twatter that got you in trouble and he'll foot the bill.
Trump's lawyers will argue that they did what they did without his knowledge. That's why he's not helping them.
Haha. Idiots.

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