'Bad for Trump': Cheaping out on co-defendants’ legal bills could hurt him: Expert
September 01, 2023
A legal expert said Friday that Donald Trump’s decision not to pay his co-defendants’ legal bills could come back to haunt the former president.
Temidayo Aganga-Williams during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” said that it’s likely in the best interests of Trump’s co-defendants to pay their own legal bills.
Aganga-Williams’ comments followed Collins noting that several of Trump’s co-defendants in the sprawling Georgia election conspiracy case that’s being charged under the state’s RICO law, including Rudy Giuliani, John Eastman, and Jenna Ellis are crowdfunding to raise money to pay their legal bills.
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“Obviously Trump is worried how much it would cost to pay for all these people, he doesn't even like to pay his own legal bills, but could it cost him in a different way, could it be dangerous to him to not keep all of these co-defendants unified?” Collins asked.
“Yes,” the former senior investigative counsel for the January 6 committee said.
“First, I think it's good for justice that he's not paying the legal fees. I mean, we've seen what happens when critical witnesses take on a Trump lawyer, on the Jan. 6 committee we saw with Cassie Hutchinson, she initially had a Trump paid lawyer, and she came to us and said, ‘I don't recall. I don't recall. I don't recall.’ But she got a new lawyer, she came in and she told the truth and she provided some of some of the most damning testimony against Trump.”
Aganga-Williams noted the Florida documents case in which “you had the (internet technology) worker who had a Trump lawyer, and he perjured himself. He got a new lawyer, he came in, and he told the truth and really helped support the obstruction charges.”
“I think that shows you the danger.”
Aganga-Williams said once the case gets started and the fear of incarceration along with legal bills start to climb, the pressure will build on Trump’s co-defendants to turn on the former president.
“I think it's good for justice and I do think it's bad for Trump,” he said.
“I think it may be short-sighted in that, you know, when folks are feeling the pressure, they're going to be more inclined to want to get out of the case. And when you're charged and indicted, the quickest way to get the case is to plead guilty. And the best way to avoid liability when you plead guilty is to cooperate. So some of these folks, especially those who are charged with the RICO charge, which has heavier penalties, they start feeling financial pressures. That's just the beginning and we are early.”
He added: “This case has not even begun to warm up so when it does get moving, those bills are going to skyrocket. And you're going to see people I think start potentially turning on the former president.”
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