A trio of top Donald Trump allies who have racked up huge legal expenses to defend themselves from either criminal charges, convictions or defamation lawsuits have lost key lawyers for failing to pay six- and seven-figure bills in a sign of the huge legal problems they face.
The hefty legal bills of ex-Trump advisor Steve Bannon, former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, underscore the scale of the criminal and civil charges that ensnare them.
Bannon has a court appeal slated for November over his criminal conviction last year and pending four-month jail sentence for obstructing Congress by spurning a subpoena from the House panel that was probing the January 6 insurrection. Bannon also faces a trial next May in New York related to state fraud, conspiracy and money laundering charges that he bilked donors in a Mexican wall project, dubbed “We Build the Wall.”
Meanwhile, Giuliani was charged in August with 13 criminal counts in Georgia by Fulton county district attorney Fani Willis who also charged Trump and 17 others as part of a conspiracy to thwart Trump’s 2020 loss there. Pressures on Giuliani escalated in October when three other ex-Trump lawyers he worked with in varying ways agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.
Further, Lindell is fighting $2bn defamation lawsuits by electronic voting machine firms he has claimed helped rig the 2020 against Trump, which have cost him millions of dollars in legal fees owed to a Minneapolis law firm. In October, the law firm formally asked a court to allow it to withdraw from representing Lindell in these cases, citing millions of dollars it was owed.
On another legal front, a top lawyer for Bannon and Giuliani has ditched them and filed big claims for monies owed. Robert Costello and his firm, which has represented both Giuliani and Bannon, have filed separate claims against the duo, respectively, for $1.4m and $480,000.
A court judgement has been issued against Bannon for the $480,000, which he’s fighting with the help of lawyer Harlan Protass. It’s unclear when and how much Giuliani may pay Costello and his firm. But a legal source familiar with Giuliani’s seven-figure debt faults Trump not Giuliani for the unpaid bill, claiming that Trump at a meeting with Costello and Giuliani earlier this year in Florida said he would “take care of” Giuliani’s legal bill.
On top of their past due legal bills, Giuliani and Bannon now are also locked in other high stakes legal battles.
Where’s Trump when they need him … 
