Giuliani allies press Trump team to help foot his growing legal bills: report

Rudy Giuliani’s allies are reportedly pressing former President Trump’s team to help the embattled lawyer pay for his growing legal bills.

Giuliani’s advisers are pleading with Trump’s team to dip into its $250 million campaign bank account and pay the attorney for the work he did to try to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a report from The New York Times.

Giuliani’s team increased the pressure on Trump’s camp, the Times reported, after federal prosecutors executed a search warrant at the lawyer’s home and office as part of an investigation into his dealings with Ukraine.

They are looking into whether Giuliani illegally lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian oligarchs, the same officials who were helping him search for dirt on Trump’s political foes, including then-Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Giuliani has denied any wrongdoing, arguing that federal prosecutors are trying to “frame” him.

Giuliani is also the subject of defamation lawsuits by two voting machine companies, Dominion and Smartmatic.

Dominion is alleging that Giuliani spread a number of defamatory statements about the voting machine company while he led Trump’s post-election legal campaign. Smartmatic is accusing Giuliani and others of grievously harming the company by claiming that it was connected to widespread election fraud.

The Times reported, citing people close to Giuliani and Trump, that Giuliani was not compensated for the work he did after the election. The lawyer’s allies are now pressing the Trump camp to use some of the funds it raised after the election to help Giuliani finance the defamation legal fights.

The Hill has reached out to Giuliani and Trump for comment.

Bernard Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, wrote on Twitter that “lawyers and law firms that didn’t do shit were paid lots of money and the people that worked their ass off, got nothing.”

“I want to know what the @GOP did with the quarter of $1 billion they collected for the election legal fight,” said Kerik, who was appointed to his role as commissioner by Giuliani when he served as New York City mayor.

I want to know what the @GOP did with the quarter of $1 billion they collected for the election legal fight. Lawyers and law firms that didn’t do shit were paid lots of money and the people that worked their ass off, got nothing. https://t.co/G7343XifsI

— Bernard B. Kerik (@BernardKerik) May 3, 2021

Kerik, according to the Times, citing people familiar with the conversations, has privately made similar complaints to some Trump advisers.