A minor detail so far unmentioned are the tax consequences from those Trump provided lawyers. There can only be two possible treatments neither of which will be welcomed by Trump or his band of co-conspirators:
1. Trump’s provision of legal services are taxable as income to the recipient. Imagine at the end of all this, a co-conspirator gets slapped with an income tax bill for the value of those legal fees. That’s going to leave a mark since the fees are likely to be quite hefty when it is all said and done.
or….
2. Trump’s provision of legal services is a gift to the recipient. In this case Trump himself would be liable for a gift tax. He gets to give each person only $17,000 per year gift tax free. After that, those gifts become taxable. While it is also true that he has a lifetime amount of around 13 million that can be given away without paying a tax, Trump is probably already using that amount for transfers to his kids. So, it is likely that he pays 40% on any incremental gifts he makes over the 17,000 annual exclusion.
So, if he provides ,say, $200,000 in legal fees either the recipient pays income tax on that amount, or Trump owes (200,000-17,000)*40% or $73,200. Given the number of people he is doing this for, the gift tax could be quite hefty.
Also, why would I think that Trump might try to stiff them with the tax bill??
Take your pick on which one you prefer. But in either case, the IRS will be the one providing the final gift to an unhappy recipient.
