Trump allies who pushed 2020 fraud claims face legal blowback

[December 22, 2023]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As Donald Trump faces criminal cases in Georgia and Washington stemming from his attempt to overturn his 2020 election defeat to Democrat Joe Biden, many of his allies have also faced legal repercussions for participating in that effort.

Here is a summary of the criminal charges, lawsuits and other legal woes that some of them face:

RUDY GIULIANI

The former New York mayor led efforts to overturn Trump's 2020 election loss through unsuccessful lawsuits and a wide-ranging effort to produce fake slates of electors in battleground states.

He has been ordered by a jury to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers who faced a deluge of threats after he falsely claimed they were engaged in fraud. Giuliani has repeated those claims following the verdict, even though he has admitted in court that they were defamatory, prompting the two workers to file a second lawsuit.

He filed for bankruptcy following that claim, listing up to $500 million in liabilities, but that might not enable him to shed that obligation. Judges have ruled that defamation claims can't be discharged by bankruptcy if the debtor engaged in "willful and malicious" conduct.

Giuliani has also pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of election subversion in Georgia, along with Trump and more than a dozen other co-defendants.

He faces a defamation lawsuit from two voting machine makers, Smartmatic and Dominion Voting Systems, for claiming that they flipped votes from Trump to Biden.

Hunter Biden, President Biden's son, has sued him for violating his privacy for taking data from his laptop.

Giuliani's former lawyer has also sued him over nearly $1.4 million in unpaid legal fees, and a former aide has sued him for $10 million for sexual assault.

His law license has been suspended in New York and he faces disbarment in Washington for pursuing what a professional board has called a "frivolous" voter-fraud lawsuit.

MARK MEADOWS

As Trump's final White House chief of staff, Meadows looked for evidence of fraud after the election and helped to set up a phone call in which Trump pressured Georgia's top election official to "find" enough votes to reverse his loss.

He also echoed Trump's false claims of election fraud in a book that was published after he left office.

Meadows faces criminal charges in the Georgia election subversion case. He has pleaded not guilty and argued that he was only doing his job when he tried to help Trump reverse his election loss.

He has tried but so far failed to move his case to federal court, where he could argue that he is immune from state prosecution.

The U.S. House of Representatives recommended contempt of Congress charges against Meadows for failing to fully cooperate with an investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, but the Justice Department opted not to pursue a case.

MIKE LINDELL

The pillow entrepreneur, who amplified Trump's baseless election-fraud claims, faces defamation lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for saying their machines were rigged to favor Biden.

He was ordered in April to pay $5 million to a man who debunked his false election claims.

His lawyers have told a court that he owes them millions of dollars in unpaid fees and are seeking to drop him as a client. Lindell says he is out of money and hasn't paid them since July.

JOHN EASTMAN

The law professor crafted a theory that Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, could reject results from states that Trump lost to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory. He unsuccessfully pressured Pence to act even as Trump supporters stormed Congress on Jan. 6, 2021.

He is a defendant in the Georgia election-subversion case and has pleaded not guilty.

He retired from his professorship at Chapman University following the Jan. 6 attacks.

A California state judge is set to rule on whether Eastman should lose his law license following a five-month ethics trial.

SIDNEY POWELL

The conservative lawyer, who promoted Trump's false election claims and filed unsuccessful lawsuits to overturn his defeat, has pleaded guilty in the Georgia election-subversion case and has agreed to testify against Trump and the other defendants.

My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell speaks as he waits for former U.S. President Donald Trump, following Trump's arraignment on classified document charges, at Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., June 13, 2023. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky

She admitted to plotting to unlawfully access election machines in a rural Georgia country following the election.

She also faces lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic for false vote-rigging claims, as well as a financial penalty for participating in a lawsuit in Michigan that a court determined to be frivolous.

JENNA ELLIS

Another lawyer who advanced Trump's false election-fraud claims, Ellis pleaded guilty in October in the Georgia election-fraud case and has agreed to testify against the former president.

She also has been censured by a Colorado court after admitting to making false claims about voter fraud.

KENNETH CHESBRO

Chesebro also pressured Pence to discard state election results. He pleaded guilty in the Georgia case in October.

LIN WOOD

The conservative lawyer was ordered along with Powell by a U.S. appeals court to pay $132,800 for participating in a lawsuit that challenged Trump's 2020 loss in Michigan.

He retired from practicing law in July 2023 as he faced disciplinary proceedings in Georgia that could have led to the loss of his license.

JEFFREY CLARK

The former U.S. Justice Department official sought to get Trump to name him attorney general after his superiors at the agency refused to back efforts to overturn the election.

He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in the Georgia election-interference case and faces ethics charges in Washington that could strip him of his law license.

JAN. 6, 2021, PARTICIPANTS

More than 1,237 people have been charged with crimes stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, when a mob of Trump supporters attempted to prevent Congress from certifying Biden's victory.

According to U.S. authorities, 714 of those defendants have pleaded guilty, 138 have been found guilty at trial and another 32 have been convicted following an agreement.

Some 454 have been sentenced to prison and 15 have been sentenced to home detention.

Among those are leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers right-wing groups, who were sentenced to up to 22 years in prison after being found guilty of seditious conspiracy.

A New Mexico county commissioner who participated in the riot was removed from office when a state judge ruled that he violated the U.S. Constitution by engaging in an insurrection.

FAKE ELECTORS

Trump supporters who signed on as fake electors to undermine the post-election vote tallying process in some states also are facing legal pressure.

Nevada, Michigan and Georgia have brought criminal charges against those who falsely attested Trump had won their states, while 10 fake electors in Wisconsin have reached a legal settlement that affirmed Biden's victory there.

TAMPERING WITH VOTING MACHINES

In Michigan, former Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, former state representative Daire Rendon and lawyer Stefanie Lambert Junttila have been charged with illegally accessing voting machines as they tried to reverse Trump's loss in that state.

Separate financial sanctions and ethics charges against Juntilla have been dropped.

FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT

Two lawyers, Ernest Walker and Gary Fielder, were ordered by a U.S. judge to pay $187,000 in legal fees after finding they made reckless and frivolous claims in a Colorado lawsuit that accused Dominion Voting Systems, Meta's Facebook and the Center for Tech and Civic Life nonprofit of trying to steal the election from Trump.

(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone and Jonathan Oatis)

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