Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Trump campaign lawyers mocked him for being broke in newly-revealed emails

One Trump attorney writes that he was doing his part for Mr Trump by ‘lining his empty pockets’

Andrew Feinberg
Tuesday 04 October 2022 23:13 BST
Comments
Trump thanks Ginni Thomas for sticking to stolen election lies
Leer en Español

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Attorneys working for former president Donald Trump’s failed 2020 re-election campaign mocked his lack of financial liquidity and his rampant violation of the US Constitution in emails released in a court filing by the House January 6 select committee.

The panel has been engaged in a court battle to obtain emails from John Eastman, the ex-Chapman University law professor who formulated plans for Mr Trump to overturn the election with fake slates of electoral votes, and other attorneys working with the campaign.

Committee attorneys said in a filing that Mr Eastman has deliberately mischaracterised multiple emails as being covered by attorney-client privilege, and offered the example of an email exchange between him and Trump lawyers Kenneth Chesebro and Bruce Marks, in which the latter two made fun of Mr Trump.

In one email, Mr Chesebro wrote: “Am at Trump [International] NYC, so I’m [feeling] extra [inspired] to work on the [President’s] cases!!”

Mr Marks replied that it was “a shame” Mr Chesebro was not in Washington at Mr Trump’s hotel so he could “contribute to violation of the emoluments clause” of the US Constitution.

In response, Mr Chesebro wrote that he was staying at Mr Trump’s Washington, DC hotel from 3 January to 8 January, and said he was “doing [his] part to curry favor[sic]” with Mr Trump “by lining his empty pockets”.

Committee lawyers said Mr Eastman’s emails show his “representations regarding the nature or content of the remaining 562 documents are unreliable” and asked the judge to allow them access under the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in