Cobb and DeKalb counties in Georgia have received payments for legal costs incurred due to a lawsuit filed by former President Donald Trump, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is reporting.
The newspaper said election officials in the two counties had looked to recover the funds from a Trump lawsuit, which sought to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia.
Last week the Cobb County Board of Elections received $15,554 to cover its legal costs through June 1, the county’s attorney’s office said.
A court brief filed late Monday by DeKalb County confirmed the “plaintiffs, through counsel, have provided payment for the full amount of attorneys’ fees” the county requested. DeKalb had requested $6,105 in fees in a motion filed in February, the Journal-Constitution said.
“The two motions (for attorneys’ fees) have been withdrawn. There was no settlement agreement,” Trump attorney Randy Evans told the Journal-Constitution. “The taxpayers in DeKalb and Cobb have been fully reimbursed. There are no other details because there are no other details.”
Evans denied Trump had paid the fees but would not disclose who actually paid them. The Hill noted that the two payments came after the counties filed motions in January requesting almost $20,000 in attorney fees from Trump and the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, David Shafer, as compensation for their roles in the litigation.
Trump had filed suit in Georgia in December claiming the election process was filled with “significant systemic misconduct, fraud and other irregularities” resulting in “many thousands of illegal votes” being cast and counted.
The suit, filed in Georgia, named Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and a slew of local elections officials.
It asked the court to prevent certification of the results and order a new presidential election.
The Hill noted the suit was withdrawn in January.