GOP’s legal expenses grow in defense of Trump electors

Legal bills are piling up for the Georgia Republican Party in its support of defendants in an elector scheme that was part of a larger effort to overturn the state’s presidential election in 2020.

Federal reports show the state GOP spent about $350,000 in July and August on legal fees, much of it to defend 16 Georgians who submitted documents to state and federal authorities claiming to be “duly elected” to cast the state’s votes in the Electoral College for then-President Donald Trump, even though he had lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Three of them — former Georgia Republican Chair David Shafer, state Sen. Shawn Still and former Coffee County GOP Chair Cathy Latham — were among 19 people indicted by a Fulton County grand jury, including Trump, as participants in a “criminal enterprise” to reverse the results of the presidential election.

Shafer’s attorneys have cited the actions of Hawaii Democrats during the tight 1960 presidential election as a historic precedent. They’ve also argued the electors were following legal advice and were acting as federal officials as they cast their votes.

In all, the Georgia GOP has spent more than $1 million on legal fees since the beginning of last year.

The spending has accelerated, with the state GOP paying more in attorney costs in July and August than it did in all of 2022. That comes after a report earlier this summer by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the party had spent more than $500,000 on legal fees in the first half of 2023.

The defendants, however, are seeking new ways to raise cash. Latham and Shafer have both pursued donations on the Christian-based crowdfunding site GiveSendGo. Shafer has collected nearly $30,000, and Latham has pulled in more than $21,000.