Consternation in Trump world
Trump’s habit of stiffing the help may come back to bite him.
The multiplying charges brought against allies of former President Trump and their mounting legal fees are creating consternation in Trump world — while presenting a real risk to the former president.
Trump has burned through millions of dollars in donor money to pay for legal fees as he defends himself against charges in New York City, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.
But the former president, who has built a reputation for stiffing workers, has shown no interest in providing financial aid to former aides charged over their efforts to keep him in power.
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As Trump’s aid to allies trickles, some warn failing to take on their legal bills could come back to haunt him if associates seek to cooperate with prosecutors.
It turns out to be an expensive business, trying to overturn an election. Lots of moving parts, lots of people to pay, lots of indictments to fight.
“Donald’s an idiot,” Trump’s former fixer Michael Cohen told CNN. “Let me just be very clear: When it comes to paying money, he is truly an idiot. He has not learned yet that … three people you don’t want to throw under the bus like that: your lawyer, your doctor and your mechanic. Because one way or the other, you’re going to go down the hill, and there’ll be no brakes.”
He mused that Giuliani could present the biggest risk for Trump. Although he’s facing charges in Georgia, he has yet to be indicted in the federal Jan. 6 case, despite being listed as a co-conspirator.
“Allegedly, from Rudy’s own mouth, he claims that he has smoking gun information about Donald,” Cohen said, adding later, “He’s going to need to speak, and he’s going to need to speak before everybody else does.”
Giuliani is facing some of the steepest debts as his cases pile up.
Yeah, whatever, Trump has some golf to play.
Can they all lose? They all deserve each other. How many of the saps that Trump is now leaving to fend for themselves ever imagined that he could turn on them. HOW COULD HE DO THIS TO ME? I’M SPECIAL! I’M BETTER THAN ALL THOSE OTHERS!! How they couldn’t see that Trump was and is only and ever in it for himself alone is beyond me. Trump’s “trusted inner circle” is entirely bounded by his own orange skin. Anyone and anything outside that boundary is totally expendable.
You would have thought that in his turn from being a crack Mafia prosecutor to being a Consigliare to Donnie Two-Scoops, Giuliani would have learned a lesson about gathering the lucre when he does a dirty deed. But he kept on even as his court filings were rejected for lack of evidence, and rumors of his evidently pro bono work for the Don(ald) turned out to be true.
I have no sympathy for Giuliani. But it will be fun to read the transcripts of his testimony against Trump.
I sincerely hope that the Georgia case goes to trial first, and she gets the conviction. Georgia has a pardon board that is independently appointed for life, and no elected official can threaten their jobs if they don’t pardon Trump. And he also must serve 5 years of his sentence before he can file for a pardon.