Georgia’s Republican Party has reportedly paid massive legal bills after promising to defend GOP officials charged alongside former President Donald Trump in the Fulton County election subversion criminal case.
The Georgia GOP has spent over $1.7 million in legal fees since 2022, including $237,000 last month alone, according to a report published on Monday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Trump and an initial 18 co-defendants were indicted last year on felony charges, accused of attempting to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which was narrowly won by President Joe Biden.
State officials who were indicted alongside Trump include former Georgia Republican Party Chairman David Shafer, former Coffee County Republican Party Chairwoman Cathy Latham and current GOP State Senator Shawn Still.
Jessica McGowan
The officials were three of the 16 people who served as fake electors following Biden’s win in Georgia, signing off on a document that was later sent to Congress, which baselessly claimed Trump was the true winner.
Months before he stepped down as party chairman, Shafer boasted in February 2023 that none of the fake electors would have to “pay a penny out of pocket” due to the GOP paying their legal bills, according to NBC affiliate WXIA.
By the end of last month, having paid an assortment of legal bills long before the beginning of the Fulton County trial, the Georgia GOP reportedly had $450,000 left in cash on hand, far less than the $1.3 million the party had at the same point prior to the 2020 election.
Current Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon told the Journal-Constitution that the officials who were charged alongside Trump in Fulton County would have “been financially ruined” if the party did not foot the bill.
“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,” said McKoon.
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Georgia GOP via email on Monday night.
However, other Georgia Republicans have been less than enthusiastic about party funds going to cover Trump-linked legal bills, including Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who has become a frequent target of the ex-president’s wrath since refusing to overturn the 2020 election.
Early last year, Kemp touted his then-recently successful reelection bid while reportedly arguing that Republicans “can no longer rely on the traditional party infrastructure” in the wake of the 2022 midterms.
Several high-profile Trump-backed candidates lost in the midterms after a “red wave” had incorrectly been predicted by many. Among the losers was former Senator David Perdue, whose lost his Trump-endorsed primary challenge to Kemp by a wide margin.
A trial date for Trump and his remaining 14 co-defendants in Georgia has not been set. The former president is currently on trial for 34 unrelated felony charges of falsifying business records in New York, while two additional federal criminal cases also await trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges in each case and maintains his innocence, claiming to be the victim of political “persecution” and “election interference” as he approaches an expected rematch with Biden in November.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.