Attorney: Lawyers begging for cash should have “expected” Trump to throw them under the bus

Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys are in desperate need of cash after being indicted as co-conspirators in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ sprawling racketeering investigation.

Jenna Ellis, a former attorney for Trump, who is among the 18 co-defendants indicted with felony racketeering and numerous conspiracy counts, publicly questioned why the super PAC MAGA Inc. isn’t covering the costs of her legal defense.

“I was reliably informed Trump isn’t funding any of us who are indicted,” Ellis wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Would this change if he becomes the nominee? Why then, not now? I totally agree this has become a bigger principle than just one man. So why isn’t MAGA, Inc. funding everyone’s defense?”

Ellis tweeted the message responding to a post from Matt Schlapp, the American Conservative Union’s chairman, who suggested that the sooner Republicans “unify” behind a nominee, the sooner they can use resources to fund the defenses of everyone “indicted for being a Trump Republican.”

Ellis, who has been charged with violating Georgia’s racketeering laws and solicitation of violation of oath by a public officer, is using a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to “help her fight back” against the charges brought by Willis. 

Former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani also still hasn’t been paid for his efforts to keep Trump in power, according to The New York Times. He and his lawyer even “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,” according to the report.

“Perhaps ‘how will I pay for my defense’ should have crossed the minds of Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and the others before they engaged themselves in the ways they did in service to their client,” V. James DeSimone, a California civil rights attorney, told Salon. “There are always public defenders they can turn to if they cannot afford an attorney. Trump owes them nothing — and he’s always known that.”

Despite nearly a year of mounting expenses from various legal battles related to his efforts to keep Trump in office after the 2020 election, Giuliani’s team has consistently looked to the former president for financial support. 

However, even though Giuliani’s bills have strained his finances, the former president has mostly avoided committing to help even after making a vague promise during their dinner at Mar-a-Lago, sources familiar with the matter told The Times. 

“Any new lawyer knows you should have a written agreement, a retainer, and regular billing in place before starting any work for a client with Trump’s history of bankruptcies and debt-dodging,” DeSimone said. 

The former Trump lawyer is facing close to $3 million in legal fees, excluding the compensation he is owed for his efforts in helping Trump after Election Day, a person familiar with the matter told The Times. 

---

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

---

“This shouldn’t surprise anyone,” DeSimone said. “Trump has been getting away with not paying bills all his life. For me, the issues involving what Trump owed Giuliani, about $3 million, for employing him as his attorney are exactly what Giuliani should have expected to happen.”

Michael Cohen, who was once Trump’s attorney but has now emerged as a prominent critic of the former president, told CNN that Trump is an “idiot” for not paying his alleged co-conspirators’ legal bills and was “absolutely” making a mistake by not paying Giuliani’s fees.

“Allegedly, from Rudy’s own mouth, he claims that he has smoking gun information about Donald,” Cohen said.

He added: “At the end of the day, when your life is basically hanging on the line, once again, you just don’t really want to throw another lawyer under the bus.”