Working as Donald Trumpās lawyer, or just being his lawyerās lawyer, is a tough gig. The former presidentās tight-fisted ways, not to mention his legal problems, are trickling down through Trumpworldās legal ecosystem.
On Tuesday, Rudy Giulianiās lawyer, Robert Costello, sued the former New York mayor for more than $1.3 million in allegedly unpaid legal fees dating back to 2019. That lawsuit, Costello says, is a consequence of Trumpās own refusal to pay Giuliani for years of work as Trumpās personal attorney.
Lawyers for Trump have landed in legal jeopardy due to his lies. Theyāve been forced to testify against him, sanctioned, fined, stripped of law licenses, sued, and indicted. But none are in as much trouble as Rudy.
Giuliani has pleaded not guilty to 13 racketeering and conspiracy charges in Georgia for alleged interference in that stateās election. He was also found liable for defaming two Georgia election workers and will likely be ordered to pay them damages. Heās an unindicted co-conspirator in the US Justice Departmentās criminal case against Trump related to January 6. His law license is suspended in New York, and he could be disbarred in DC. A former assistant says in a lawsuit that Giuliani raped her. Former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, in a new book, claims he groped her on January 6. An FBI agent says a bureau investigation found Giuliani āmay have been compromisedā by Russian intelligence while he assisted Trumpās 2020 campaign.
Giuliani denies any wrongdoing related to each of these allegations. A spokesperson for him called Hutchinsonās claims āa disgusting lie.ā
Giuliani encountered many of those problems while he was working for Trumpāapparently with a hope, but not an enforceable promise, of remuneration. The former president not only contributed to Giulianiās fall from famed prosecutor to defendant, but has mostly declined to pay his legal fees. Costelloās suit against Giulianiāhis former clientācame after he personally accompanied Giuliani to Trumpās Mar-a-Lago headquarters in an attempt to get the president to pay up. Trump, who has previously used a PAC he controls to pay some of what he owes Giuliani, along with others, reportedly recently raised around $1 million at a fundraiser aimed at helping Giuliani.
Itās not clear if Giuliani has received any of that money. But he clearly has not paid Costello. Giuliani complained in a statement Tuesday that Costelloās bill āis way in excess to anything approaching legitimate fees.ā Still, Costello said in an interview that the reason his former client hasnāt paid him is ābecause he hasnāt been paid by Donald Trump.ā
Giuliani is the second high-profile client Costello has sued this year. The other is Steve Bannon. Costelloās firm, Davidoff, Hutcher & Citron, in February sued Bannonāwho was convicted last year of contempt of Congress (heās appealing) and indicted in New York for defrauding a nonprofit (he pleaded not guilty)āfor more than $480,000 in unpaid fees. Costello also represented Bannon in 2020 following his federal indictment on similar fraud charges, prior to Trump pardoning Bannon. A federal judge in July ordered Bannon to pay up. So far Bannon has apparently not done so.
āWeāll get it, but not yet,ā Costello said Tuesday.
Costello, whose biography touts his 40-plus year of litigation experience, told me Tuesday that Bannon was the first client āIāve ever had to sue for fees.ā Giuliani was the second.
Bannon and a Trump spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Costello, like Giuliani, has participated in some of his clientā legally risky activities. In 2020, Costello received a copy of Hunter Bidenās hard drive from John Paul Mac Issac, the owner of a Delaware computer repair shop where Hunter reputedly left his laptop and failed to pick it up. Costello passed it on to Giuliani, who worked with Bannon to publicize much of the material. Hunter Biden, represented by high-powered lawyer Abbe Lowell, has threatened to sue Costello, along with others involved in revealing contents of the device. Lowell recently followed up on some of those threats, suing a former Trump aide involved in distributing laptop material. He also sued the IRS over two agentsā revelations about Hunterās alleged nonpayment of taxes.
Costello said he is not concerned by the lawsuit threat. And he said he does not regret his work for Giuliani and Bannon, even though they stiffed him. He said he believed in that work, maintaining that his former clients are being persecuted for their politics.
āThe whole idea here is to bleed people associated with Donald Trump dry financially,ā he said. āThat is a way to cancel them.ā
Honestly Iād be skeptical of working for them even with a retainer. Not only will it probably be paid in leprechaun gold but heād turn around and ask you to do a laundry list of illegal things for him immediately after.
Wait until he figures out that non-representation is a great way to stall a trial. Those attorneys will be presented with hoops not even a Cirque du Soleil acrobat could navigate.