Snowshoe Tours 2019

A lawsuit filed in Georgia seeks to recover a $100,000 donation to Rudy Giuliani's legal defense fund. The donation came from Matthew Martorano, a Donald Trump supporter accused of participating in an online skincare product scam.

The lawsuit alleges that the donation should be returned to victims of the alleged fraud, according to CNBC. Martorano's software was accused of helping the scammers hide the number of chargebacks they received, which is a sign of potential fraud.

Giuliani's spokesperson said the lawsuit was unrelated to their client. Lawyers for Martorano and the other defendants did not respond to requests for comment, CNBC said.

The Georgia suit follows a federal lawsuit that certified a nationwide class against the alleged skin care sales scammers at Konnektive LLC. The judge in that case wrote that the plaintiff "has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that Konnektive Defendants deceived banks and credit card companies."

ALSO READ: Inside the neo-Nazi hate network grooming children for a race war

Martorano has also made other high-dollar political donations, including $5,000 to the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee and $3,330 to Trump's presidential campaign. He and his wife also transferred a house and two properties in Georgia spanning 135 acres to a limited liability corporation for a $0 purchase price.

The suit questioned Martorano's motive for donating to Giuliani, who represented Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Former Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer is also represented by one of Martorano's lawyers in a Fulton County criminal case.

Shafer is a co-defendant with Giuliani, Trump, and a dozen more people in that criminal case, which accuses them of conspiracy in trying to overturn Trump's 2020 presidential election loss in the state.

In December, Giuliani filed for bankruptcy protection after a judge ordered him to pay $146 million to two election workers who filed a defamation lawsuit. The $100,000 donation represents 13% of Giuliani's defense fund.

Former President Donald Trump's biggest risk in the Manhattan hush money trial could be what he himself says if he takes the witness stand, former Trump administration White House lawyer Jim Schultz argued on CNN Monday.

This came as the trial's first day opened with the jury selection process, with Trump sitting at the defense table and some experts remarking that he appeared diminished.

"Does today matter?" asked anchor Phil Mattingly. "Does what they see from these potential jurors matter in that kind of strategy process?"

"Look, I think all of it's going to matter, right?" said Schultz, a longtime defender of the former president who has nevertheless admitted the recent string of civil and criminal trials has been rough for him.

"How he interacts, how they interact with him, how they feel — how the lawyers feel that the jurors are, how much appeal there is from the jurors as to whether they're going to put him on the stand. But I think at this — at this stage in the game, I think they're probably leaning towards putting him on the stand."

Anchor Erin Burnett then chimed in. "And what would you do?" she asked. "You know him. You've worked with him. You think that's a gamble you'd take, to put him on the stand?"

ALSO READ: A neuroscientist explains how Trump is using existential fear to win the election

Schultz replied, "I think again ... in this particular case, hearing from him is likely going to matter. I think he'd want to testify in this case. I think he's going to push his lawyers to testify in this case. And quite frankly, the problem with putting Donald Trump on the stand is that you never know what Donald Trump's gonna say, whether he could say something that's completely irrelevant to the case, he could say something that damages the case just by making a flippant remark.

"So there is a huge danger of putting him on the stand, but I think he's going to be pressing to do it."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

Jim Schultz says Trump is a "huge danger" to himself on the stand www.youtube.com