'Shot down in court': Report details the legal headaches dogging Trump’s allies

20 July 2023

"Flock of felons" is the phrase that veteran television journalist Dan Rather famously used to describe the many Donald Trump associates who faced federal criminal charges when he was in office. The list of Trump allies who he granted federal pardons is a long one and includes, among many others, veteran GOP operatives Roger Stone and Paul Manafort, former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn and "War Room" host Steve Bannon.

Two and one-half years after Trump left office, some of his associates are still dealing with legal problems. And Trump himself is facing two criminal indictments: a 37-count indictment in special counsel Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents case, and a 34-count New York State prosecution by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. in connection with alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. Bragg is accusing Trump of falsifying the Trump Organization's business records.

More criminal indictments may be forthcoming for the former president: Smith and Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis have been investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

In an article published on July 20, the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery examines some of the legal headaches that Bannon and other Trump allies continue to face.

"It's not just Donald Trump who keeps losing his legal battles," Pagliery reports. "One by one, the former president's associates are getting shot down in court and being ordered to pay up for their misbehavior…. The same lawyer who helped Bannon land a Trump presidential pardon that spared him a conviction for defrauding nonprofit donors eventually took him to court over unpaid legal bills. And last week, a New York judge ordered Bannon to pay up the missing $480,000."

Pagliery notes that former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump's personal attorney, has been "fighting off a defamation lawsuit by Ruby Freeman and her daughter Shaye Moss, the Georgia poll workers whom Giuliani falsely accused of taking part in a vast conspiracy to sneak suitcases of fake ballots to tank Trump's reelection bid."

"Last Thursday, just as Bannon got hit with an even bigger legal bill, a federal judge in the nation's capital ordered Giuliani to immediately shell out $89,172 for failing to turn over evidence in the defamation case," Pagliery observes. "Giuliani should have paid it by July 7, but he blew that deadline and now has until next Tuesday, or he could face additional sanctions."

Pagliery reports that former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, a Trump/Giuliani associate, has "refused to turn over evidence" in connection with his "efforts to discredit the Georgia poll workers as an investigator for Giuliani." And Trump attorney Alina Habba, according to Pagliery, "has been trying to escape a nearly $1 million bill she accrued herself by filing a spurious lawsuit against political foes."

Find the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).

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