Former President Trump’s fundraising committees doled out money to dozens of attorneys final yr, a significant expense for the Republican front-runner’s marketing campaign as he stares down 4 legal indictments and varied civil lawsuits.
Trump’s teams spent roughly $50 million on authorized consulting in 2023, including $30 million within the second half of the yr, newly filed federal data present, paying homage to how his marketing campaign and authorized woes are rising more and more intertwined.
The data reveal how Trump has ponied up thousands and thousands to legal professionals making an attempt to get his 91 legal fees tossed, whereas different top-paid legal professionals have appeared in circumstances just like the sweeping civil fraud trial introduced by New York’s legal professional basic.
Trump even expensed to his management PAC $7,500 he paid to a bail bondsman final summer time after being indicted in Georgia. It stays unclear if Trump paid any of his legal professionals’ further funds out of his pocket.
Right here’s a take a look at the legislation companies that took in probably the most cash from Trump’s political committees final yr.
Chris Kise: $8.97 million
Chris Kise, a Florida-based lawyer who was as soon as the state’s solicitor basic, was Trump’s top-paid lawyer of 2023, bringing in almost $9 million to his eponymous workplace, Chris Kise & Associates, and the legislation agency Continental PLLC.
Kise has served as Trump’s lead lawyer within the New York legal professional basic’s civil fraud case in opposition to the previous president, which accuses him of falsely altering the worth of the Trump Group’s enterprise belongings for tax and insurance coverage advantages.
As the first trial lawyer, Kise repeatedly hammered in Trump’s core defenses — that banks needed to work with the Trump Group, did due diligence together with his statements of monetary situation and located no fraud.
He additionally fought in opposition to a gag order imposed by the choose barring Trump and his counsel from making feedback concerning the choose’s workers, launching a separate authorized matter to resolve the battle.
Kise additionally represents Trump within the federal legal case over his alleged mishandling of categorised paperwork after leaving the White Home, a matter that’s going by way of federal courtroom in Miami.
Clifford Robert: $5.29 million
Robert & Robert earned almost $5.3 million for representing the Trumps and their enterprise.
Clifford Robert, principal of the agency, represented Trump’s grownup sons and different entities which can be events within the New York legal professional basic’s fraud case.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, each govt vice presidents on the Trump Group, have been accused by the state of being complicit in permitting their father’s falsely altered monetary statements to be despatched to banks and insurers to safe loans and offers.
One of many trial’s stand-out moments got here throughout Robert’s cross-examination of Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer and private legal professional. Cohen opened his testimony by telling the choose Trump directed him and one other govt to “reverse engineer” Trump’s internet value to achieve a quantity the previous president favored.
However when questioned by Robert, Cohen backtracked.
“Mr. Trump by no means directed you to inflate the numbers in his private assertion. Sure or no?” Robert requested Cohen.
“Sure,” Cohen replied, later explaining his obvious contradiction by saying Trump’s attorneys have been “cherry-picking” phrases in his testimony.
Along with defending the Trump sons, Robert dealt with a number of appeals all through the trial, together with that of the gag order. He additionally represented the Trump Group for not less than a part of Cohen’s case in opposition to Trump’s enterprise over unpaid authorized charges. They settled that case in July for an undisclosed quantity.
Harmeet Dhillon: $4.61 million
In early 2023, California legal professional Harmeet Dhillon unsuccessfully attempted to challenge Republican Nationwide Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.
Dhillon’s agency within the months since has change into one of many top-paid companies by Trump’s entities, together with working for the previous president as he defends in opposition to varied efforts to take him off the poll beneath the 14th Modification’s revolt ban. Dhillon’s agency is a part of the authorized staff that can signify Trump on the Supreme Court docket subsequent week for oral arguments about the former president’s ballot eligibility.
The agency additionally represented Trump in Stormy Daniels’s failed defamation swimsuit in opposition to the previous president, successful greater than $600,000 in attorney fee awards as of April and has additionally labored for Trump in a number of different civil lawsuits.
Alina Habba: $4.03 million
Trump’s entities paid Habba Madaio & Associates greater than $4 million in 2023, the data present.
Alina Habba, the agency’s managing companion, represents Trump in a number of of his circumstances and in addition serves as the previous president’s authorized spokesperson.
Together with fellow companion Michael Madaio, the agency represented Trump in his two civil trials introduced by longtime recommendation columnist E. Jean Carroll, who accused Trump of sexually assaulting her within the mid-Nineteen Nineties.
Carroll gained a $5 million verdict final spring over the alleged sexual assault itself and defamation, and on Friday, she gained an extra whopping $83.3 million over further defamation claims. Trump is interesting each verdicts and has mentioned he’s purchasing round for brand new legal professionals to deal with the issues.
Habba can be an legal professional within the New York civil fraud case.
Just like the others, many of the funds disbursed to Habba’s agency got here from Save America, Trump’s management PAC. However Habba’s agency additionally obtained about $265,000 from Make America Nice Once more, Inc., a brilliant PAC supporting Trump.
John Lauro: $2.65 million
John Lauro, plus legal professionals Greg Singer and Filzah Pavalon, obtained some $2.65 million for defending the previous president in opposition to federal fees he sought to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump’s main advocate within the Washington, D.C., courtroom, Lauro has already butted heads with U.S. District Decide Tanya Chutkan, who on quite a few events advised him to “take the temperature down” throughout early courtroom arguments over the case.
Lauro has additionally championed Trump outdoors the courtroom in media interviews, although typically tapering the previous president’s zealous social media guarantees.
After Trump mentioned his counsel was “instantly asking for recusal” of Chutkan, Lauro appeared on a podcast to proclaim “we haven’t made a closing choice on that subject in any respect.” Trump’s D.C. authorized staff eventually requested Chutkan’s recusal, which she denied.
Evan Corcoran: $2.63 million
Lawyer Evan Corcoran performed a central function as particular counsel Jack Smith investigated the previous president over his dealing with of categorised paperwork after leaving workplace.
Corcoran was a part of the staff that responded to a subpoena for categorised data at Mar-a-Lago final yr, and he reportedly advised authorities he was waved off of looking out Trump’s workplace, the place quite a few categorised data have been ultimately discovered when officers executed a search warrant.
Corcoran eliminated himself as Trump’s lawyer within the case after a choose pierced attorney-client privilege by figuring out that Trump may have misled Corcoran, enabling prosecutors to obtain Corcoran’s notes from the time.
Corcoran’s agency, Silverman Thompson Slutkin & White, obtained $2.63 million from Save America final yr, federal election data present. The entire funds have been made within the first half of the yr, earlier than Trump was indicted within the case.
Todd Blanche: $2.33 million
Inside months, white-collar legal professional Todd Blanche grew to become one of many prime legal professionals serving to Trump defend in opposition to his historic legal fees.
Simply as Trump was hit together with his first indictment, a hush cash probe into funds made to Stormy Daniels, Blanche left his agency, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, and commenced representing the previous president alongside legal professional Emil Bove.
Past the hush cash case, the duo has since come to signify Trump in his federal 2020 election subversion indictment and his categorised paperwork indictment.
Save America disbursed about $345,000 to Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft earlier than doling out greater than $2.32 million to Blanche Regulation later within the yr.
Joe Tacopina: $1.77 million
New York-based trial lawyer Joe Tacopina’s agency, Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo, took in about $1.77 million final yr as he additionally represented Trump within the hush cash indictment and one of many circumstances introduced by Carroll, the recommendation columnist.
A former Brooklyn prosecutor, Tacopina has a repute for cultivating high-profile shoppers and added the previous president to a listing that features Michael Jackson and Alex Rodriguez. Simply after the brand new yr, nonetheless, Tacopina withdrew from Trump’s legal team with out clarification.
Steve Sadow: $1.52 million
Hours earlier than he surrendered to authorities in Georgia upon being indicted in that election interference case, Trump shook up his legal team in the case and employed Atlanta-based protection legal professional Steve Sadow to exchange one other legal professional.
Sadow, recognized for carrying his signature alligator boots to courtroom, beforehand represented high-profile shoppers like radio host Howard Stern and former NFL participant Ray Lewis.
Trump’s Save America made $500,000 funds to Sadow for every of the primary three months he was on the staff, the data present. Save America later disbursed an extra $16,456 simply earlier than Christmas.
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