Since Donald Trump’s term as president ended and his power to pardon vanished with it in January 2021, he has managed to keep a wide range of former aides, confidantes and associates close to him by dispensing the millions of dollars he’s raised for his political action committee as legal fees for allies who’ve been caught up in investigations into his conduct. According to a Federal Election Commission disclosure report filed late last month, his Save America political committee spent roughly $20m on legal fees during the first half of this year. And a separate review of FEC filings dating back to when Mr Trump first reentered life as a private citizen shows the legal costs to be twice that amount dating back to the end of the ex-president’s term. The commission’s data reveals that Save America’s legal costs since January 2021 were $38m, the largest set of expenditures for the group. According to advisers to the ex-president, that amount represents legal fees not just for Mr Trump, but for dozens of former aides and associates who have become involved in the criminal investigations that have led to him facing four sets of charges in four separate courts. That group of aides includes Mr Trump’s two co-defendants in the criminal case pending against him in the Southern District of Florida, his longtime valet Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, a maintenance supervisor at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. In a superseding indictment filed against the ex-president, Mr Nauta and Mr De Oliveira last month, prosecutors alleged that Mr Trump personally telephoned Mr De Oliveira and assured him that he would pay for his legal representation. The indictment also alleges that prior to that call, Mr Nauta conferred with another employee of the ex-president’s who vouched for Mr De Oliveira’s loyalty. In a statement, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said the ex-president’s political operation pays legal fees for his associates “to protect these innocent people from financial ruin and prevent their lives from being completely destroyed”. But Mr Trump’s legal largesse does not appear to extend to a small number of aides who’ve incurred the ex-president’s wrath even though their legal exposure has come as a result of their work for him. One of the 18 co-defendants who was indicted along with the former president in a sprawling racketeering case brought by the Fulton County, Georgia district attorney’s office is Jenna Ellis, an attorney and commentator who first came to public attention as part of the self-described “elite strike force” that pushed unfounded claims of election fraud after Mr Trump lost the 2020 presidential race to Joe Biden. Ms Ellis, who broke with Mr Trump and has endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in next year’s election, appears to be getting no help from the ex-president’s political operation. In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) published on Tuesday, she included a link to a crowdfunding campaign on GiveSendGo, the right-wing competitor to GoFundMe that gained prominence in pro-Trump circles after the January 6 attack on the Capitol. Her attorney, Mike Melito, said on the campaign’s page: “We will fight for Jenna. If you would like to help support our efforts please consider donating by clicking the link below. America and the profession of law are worth the fight”. Another of her former “elite strike force” compatriots turned Georgia co-defendants, ex-New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani, also appears to be struggling financially under a crush of legal fees brought on by his work for Mr Trump — work that has reportedly gone unpaid for nearly three years. According to CNN, Mr Giuliani and his longtime counsel, Robert Costello, journeyed to Mar-a-Lago earlier this year to plead for Mr Trump to turn on the financial spigot and alleviate some of the ex-mayor’s legal bills, which reportedly have reached the seven-figure mark. The former prosecutor, who now faces criminal charges under the same type of Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) law which he used against the Italian-American mob in the 1980s, left only with a promise by Mr Trump to pay for “a small fee from a data vendor” which hosts the contents of digital devices for discovery in a defamation suit against him by two Georgia election workers, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea Moss. Mr Giuliani, who recently listed his New York City apartment for sale was described in a court filing for that case as “having financial difficulties” that impede his ability to produce discovery. It’s not known exactly why Mr Trump has refused to cover his former lawyer and longtime friend’s legal costs, but according to multiple reports, he became disillusioned with Mr Giuliani’s work after it failed to result in him remaining in the White House despite having lost the 2020 election. Read More Trump judge makes barbed comment about Elon Musk as contents of Jack Smith’s Twitter warrant revealed Trump co-defendant Walt Nauta’s lawyer may have conflict of interest, prosecutors say All of Trump’s lawsuits and criminal charges - and where they stand Trump’s team creates legal defence fund to pay for growing number of allies caught up in his legal problems Connecticut official continues mayoral campaign despite facing charges in Jan. 6 case Biden’s approval rating on the economy stagnates despite slowing inflation Canadian woman sentenced to nearly 22 years for sending ricin letter to Trump

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“Martinis, martinis, martinis, martinis,” he tells the camera, gesticulating wildly. “Bang, threesome. Slam them both.” This is Andrew Tate, the misogynist influencer, preaching to his audience about how to recruit women to perform for webcams. Sitting in an unremarkable room, the former kickboxing world champion turned “success coach” implores viewers to get women drunk and stream content of themselves on an online pornography website. It is more than six months since Tate and his brother Tristan were arrested in Romania, prompting an outcry over how easily accessible his vile content was for impressionable young Britons. But now, even as the Tates are charged with rape and human trafficking, The Independent has found their videos can still be found within minutes online. What they reveal is a murky world promoting the exploitation of female sexuality for financial gain, coercive control, and retrograde views centred around women performing domestic duties for men. The brothers’ videos proclaim them to be “pick-up artists”, a term tied to an industry where men seek to cajole women into sleeping with them via charm and compliments, intricate mind games, as well as coercion and harassment. For sums that can run into hundreds of pounds, users are encouraged to sign up for access to their content. For instance, the “Tate webcam program” purports to provide a “PhD course” to “teach you how to obtain and retain unlimited beautiful women and this course will teach you how to turn them into cold hard cash.” Other courses, advertised as being run by Andrew Tate, teach participants “how to lie”, as well as “how to intimidate”, and “how to get your girl on lock down”, and “have multiple women who are all loyal to you”. It comes as The Independent revealed TikTok has been accused of not acting to block misogynistic videos from influencer Tate that can be viewed by children as young as 13. Figures show that videos linked to the Tate hashtag have been viewed 74 million times in the UK on TikTok in the past three months alone. Tate and his brother Tristan, dual British-US citizens initially arrested in December, were recently charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming an organised crime group to sexually exploit women - allegations they deny. Videos The Independent found of Tristan Tate, the younger of the siblings, show him teaching “pick-up artistry” show the 34-year-old boasting about being “one of the baddest playboys in the world” and an “elite level guy”, as well as speaking about how to sleep with virgins. In one clip, he explains he has multiple girlfriends who are all exclusive to him as he brags about women “who cry their eyes out if I stop speaking to them”. In his own words, “that is power”. The influencer also explains he looks for girlfriends who leave their phone “unlocked” and do not mind if he looks at the device, as well as someone who ”never goes out the room” to take a phone call, “cleans up my house” and “cooks my meals”. He adds: “If these things are adding up then I’ll usually turn it into something serious. I’ll tell her she is exclusively with me.” Tristan Tate says he will “never trust a woman like I will trust a man”, also saying that while he knows his girlfriends do not cheat on him, “you have to test their loyalty”. He suggests doing this by saying “Hey baby, give me your phone, unlock it, I want to do something”, as he recommends “Don’t do sh*t, take a selfie. Give it back to her”. In his view, “if she will hand you her unlocked phone, she ain't cheating”, however, “if they won't unlock” their phone and give it to you then “she is probably not girlfriend material”. Other relationship advice offered by the younger Tate brother involves asking women to do tasks, as he claims “good women are servile” and females are “very servile creatures”. He recounts the example of asking a woman to top up drinks, add ice cubes, find beers, and fetch lighters for his male friends when they are spending time together - adding “a good woman”, will “love” doing this. “A good way to keep your relationship fresh and a good way to keep your relationship happy is to make demands of women,” he adds. “Women love to serve men, they really do”. Discussing the Tate brothers' pick-up artist content, Callum Hood, of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, warns the “Tate brothers' original business as pick-up artists involve viewing women as objects and applying simple formulas that they believe will result in women sleeping with you”. The organisation’s head of research states “this is really dangerous” as he argues “pick-up artists have contempt for women and contempt for consent”. Mr Hood adds: “Their pick-up artist advice instructs men to view women as objects and instruct women to do whatever you want - whether that is sleep with you or perform on webcams for your profit. He notes a “unique” element about the Tate brothers in comparison to other pick-up artists is that while others focus their attentions on “one-night stands”, the Tate brothers are concentrated on “lasting coercive relationships where you have control over multiple women”. A website titled “pick-up artist tools” running a course called the “Tate webcam program” asks “What’s the only thing better than hanging around with beautiful women? Being paid to do it!” “THE £250 PHD course teaches you very important and valuable lessons about retaining and obtaining women,” the course states. "You will learn: How to convince girls to work for you. How to start a webcam company from home with zero investment. How to do banking and handle taxes, so that you get paid day one. The best way to motivate women to make you rich. Tips and tricks from over seven years in the game. A full breakdown of how to earn 30k per month profit from only three girls.” The course boasts if you “listen carefully to Tate’s system”, then you will make all of your course investment back in the first day!” Joe Mulhall, of leading anti-fascist charity Hope not Hate, said the Tate brothers’ "brand of extreme misogyny and disdain for women is plain to see in these videos”. He warns the siblings are “financially benefiting from churning out this misogynistic content to their male audience”. In his opinion, “Tate’s aspirational lifestyle videos are a disturbing gateway to more extreme far-right content.” The Independent previously reported on research by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate which unearthed 47 videos of Tate pushing what it describes as “extreme misogyny”. The report uncovered adverts on videos where Tate discusses fighting women, saying “grip her up by the neck” in a video, which has been viewed 1.6 million times, as well as referring to putting his “imprint” on 18-19-year-old girls in footage which has accrued 8.4 million views. A representative for the Tates declined to comment when approached by The Independent. Ruth Davison, chief executive of Refuge, a leading domestic abuse charity, branded the so-called pick-up artist content from the Tate brothers “horrifying” as she argues the origins of so-called pick-up artist culture lie in misogyny. “This coercively controlling, love bombing and gaslighting behaviour displays all the warning signs of domestic abuse,” she adds. “We are seeing a worrying trend of disturbing misogynistic content across social media and online, whereby men seemingly brag about abusing women, profit by victimising them and try to influence more men to do the same.” Read More I went inside Andrew Tate’s Hustler University – where ‘Gs’ celebrate making $11 Andrew Tate to remain under house arrest in Romania as human trafficking case drags on One in four young men agree with Andrew Tate’s views on women, poll finds Figures that lay bare the shocking scale of toxic influencer Andrew Tate’s reach among young men Why are so many British Muslims getting seduced by Andrew Tate? This is what Andrew Tate means for Muslim women like me Inside Andrew Tate’s collection of supercars and their ‘enormous emissions’ Andrew Tate trial: Why Romania wants to remind the world the toxic influencer is British