Trump Co-Defendant Eyes Plan to Save Him From Financial Ruin

David Shafer, formerly a longtime Georgia state senator and head of the state's Republican Party, says advertising revenue from X, formerly Twitter, is helping pay legal bills associated with his indictment.

Shafer was one of the 19 individuals, including former president Donald Trump, indicted last month for allegedly attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Shafer, former Georgia GOP Finance Chairman Shawn Still, and Cathleen Alston Latham are among those accused of being among a group of fake electors who attempted to alter the state's razor-thin results in favor of Trump.

Those indicted face 41 total counts including racketeering charges, violating the oath of a public officer, perjury, forgery, false statements and a slew of other offenses.

"Twitter has monetized my account and is now sharing advertising revenue with me," Shafer wrote on X on Monday. "Every time you like, share or reply to one of my posts, you help fund my legal defense. Please do not let me down, trolls. Your clever prison jokes could save me from financial ruin."

The platform's users can monetize their content in multiple ways including through posts, videos or Spaces. Shafer's blue-checked account has nearly 66,000 followers.

The former state party chair who was elected in 2019 is also raising defense funding directly through the state GOP, as well as through the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.

Newsweek reached out to the Georgia Republican Party via email for comment.

Jenny Beth Martin, who co-founded the Tea Party Patriots in 2009 as part of the wider Tea Party movement, has called the Fulton County indictment a "witch hunt" and is helping Shafer and other conservatives fight charges in the "disgraceful" Georgia legal system.

The GiveSendGo fundraiser she set up for Shafer had, as of Tuesday morning, raised over $20,300.

"David Shafer was one of the heroes of 2020," the crowdfunding campaign states. "He courageously spoke out against the weakening of historic election safeguards...This prosecution is an assault on the First Amendment and the rule of law.

"David Shafer exercised his constitutional right to 'petition the government for redress of grievances,' and now he is being punished. We must stand with patriots like David because it could be you or me next."

Newsweek reached out to Martin via social media for comment.

Harrison Floyd, the leader of a group called Black Voices for Trump who supported Trump's efforts to win Georgia in 2020, was among those indicted. His crowdfunding campaign on GiveSendGo has raised nearly $296,000 as of Tuesday morning.

Other past campaigns on the site have raised funds for conservatives including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Kyle Rittenhouse. It has recently raised funds for victims in Maui and those affected by Hurricane Idalia.

Newsweek reached out to GiveSendGo for comment.

Lisa Parshall, a political science professor at Daemen University, told Newsweek that the Georgia case is "the most problematic for Trump" due to the number of defendants.

The bigger cast of characters combined with the more wide-ranging charges presents more opportunity for defenses to "fall apart and co-defendants' legal interests to diverge and conflict," according to Parshall.

"It's impossible to foresee how the pending legal cases will play out," she said. "But the stage is certainly set for the legal interests of the multiple defendants to diverge in ways that may be damning for Trump.

"It's not just the potential for 'flipping;' it's also just the reality that the testimony his co-defendants have given or will give may undermine Trump's best defense in that or other cases."

In 2021, Trump offered his third post-presidency endorsement to Shafer for his reelection as Georgia's Republican chair, saying, "No one in Georgia fought harder for me than David!"

Shafer served as a state senator from February 2002 to January 2019. He acted as president pro tempore of the state Senate from January 2013 to January 2018.

Update 09/05/23, 11:04 a.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Lisa Parshall.