Georgia GOP forks over $1.7 million in legal fees for Trump trial

The Georgia Republican Party has spent more than $1.7 million in legal fees for those wrapped up in Donald Trump's 2020 election scandal.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution revealed on Monday that the hefty spending began in 2022 and covers the fees for many of the co-conspirators in the Fulton County racketeering case. It has become the party's top expenditure during an election year.

The numbers reached $1.5 million by March, with another $237,000 added during that month. It's a far cry from the $400,000 the party spent to organize a state convention featuring Trump as the keynote speaker.

The report explained that Georgia GOP chair Josh McKoon said that the party's top priority would be funding the legal defense for the Republican leaders. It has become a problem for those who believe the priority of the state GOP should be winning elections. According to McKoon, the party's previous chair, David Shafer and the 15 other accused fake electors are the ones who saddled the party with the legal bills.

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"The GOP electors submitted to state and federal authorities documents that claimed they were the 'duly elected' electors from the state, which they said Trump won," AJC recalled. "They claimed at the time they did so to preserve Trump’s legal rights in case his defeat was reversed."

That is now part of the Fulton County case and the broader federal investigation.

Some have made deals with prosecutors, but Shafer, state Sen. Shawn Still, and ex-Coffee County GOP chair Cathy Latham were among those charged.

McKoon has managed to "float their legal bills" and raise money for the defendants by begging for help from Trump loyalists.

The party has also created a villain in prosecutor Fani Willis who they have painted as “blindly partisan" and "power-mad." They're promising their own lawsuit against her in an attempt to recoup the mounting legal fees.

The report explains that McKoon believes that, without the help of the state party, the co-conspirators would have "been financially ruined."

“I am personally grateful for the tremendous financial support that has allowed the Georgia Republican Party to meet these obligations while preparing to run an aggressive 2024 campaign up and down the ballot,” he said.

The state has $450,000 cash on hand, according to the report.

McKoon told the podcast "Politically Georgia" that the "donor community" has been giving "very good support."