The website for former President Donald Trump’s legal defence fund appears to have been hacked and defaced over the weekend. As of the writing of this blog, the defacement is still live on the site and has not been taken down.
The Patriot Legal Defense Fund is a fundraising effort launched approximately a week ago by high-level members of the Trump team, with the stated goal of paying off the legal expenses of Trump’s political allies and staffers. Many of those allies and staffers are currently mired in the numerous, ongoing legal investigations into the former President, and are beset by court-related costs. While the Patriot fund has notably said it won’t be paying the legal bills for Trump or his family, The Daily Beast recently flagged some potential ethics issues involving the group that are probably worth looking into.
To add to Trump’s troubles, it appears that someone hacked the fund’s website on Friday. An archived version of the Patriot fund’s website shows that, prior to the hacking, it included Trump’s catchphrase—“Make America Great Again”—and asked visitors to “Help DEFEND Donald Trump!!!!” with a financial donation of some kind. Now, however, the site says something quite different.
The hacker, whoever they are, crossed out Trump’s name and appended to the site’s banner “America Is Already Great.” They then posted a rambling screed about “lies” and Trump’s growing list of legal troubles. It reads, in part:
Donald Trump is in trouble with the law in Georgia. This is the fourth time something like this has happened. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty, but if someone keeps getting into trouble, we should think about what that means about someones character. Can all of the people be wrong who are bring criminal charges against him?
The hacker also recommended that visitors not “support Trump’s fraudulent” fund and instead give to groups like the ACLU and other liberal organizations. At the bottom of the page, a hyperlink to a YouTube video about the January 6th hearings was also added.