Trevian Kutti: Who is ex-Kanye West publicist indicted with Trump?

1 year ago 73
ARTICLE AD BOX

Trevian KuttiImage source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Trevian Kutti is charged with racketeering

By Chloe Kim

BBC News, New York

A celebrity stylist and former Kanye West publicist is among 19 individuals indicted with former President Donald Trump for alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia.

Trevian Kutti, a Trump supporter, is accused of involvement in a plot to pressure a Fulton County election worker to falsely admit ballot fraud.

The Chicago-based publicist is charged under Georgia's racketeering law.

Ms Kutti posted online a screenshot of a TMZ article about her indictment.

The charge sheet accuses her of helping to conspire "to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favour of Trump".

The 98-page court document alleges that Ms Kutti was recruited by Harrison Floyd, the leader of Black Voices for Trump and a co-defendant in the case, to travel to Atlanta, where she was to contact Ruby Freeman, an election worker.

Ms Kutti says the depiction of the meeting in the indictment is false.

She allegedly lied to Ms Freeman's neighbour, saying she was a "crisis manager" who had come to help the vote counter.

Ms Freeman was falsely accused of being a "professional vote scammer" and "political operative" by Mr Trump in the weeks and months after the 2020 election.

Many of the former president's supporters also baselessly accused Ms Freeman and her daughter, Shaye Moss, of being part of an illegal scheme to input 18,000 false ballots for President Joe Biden into election counting machines.

During testimony to the US House of Representatives select committee last year, the mother and daughter said the voter fraud claims had left them living in fear.

According to the indictment, Ms Freeman met the publicist at a Cobb County Police Department precinct on 4 January 2021.

During the meeting, Ms Kutti allegedly asked Ms Freeman to confess to voter fraud and told her she was "in danger".

Ms Kutti allegedly also warned people would come to Ms Freeman's home in 48 hours if she didn't confess.

After Ms Freeman's accusations about Ms Kutti became public in 2021, Pierre Rougier, a spokesperson for Kanye West, said Ms Kutti was not connected with the musician at the time she contacted the election worker.

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption,

Mother-daughter poll workers Ruby Freeman (right) and Shaye Moss testified they were harassed over bogus vote fraud claims

"Trevian Kutti was not associated with Kanye West or any of his enterprises at the times of the facts that are reported in these articles or since these facts occurred," said Mr Rougier.

According to the indictment, Ms Kutti was in contact with alleged co-conspirators Harrison Floyd and Stephen Lee, a pastor from Illinois, several times before she travelled to Atlanta. Mr Floyd also allegedly spoke to Ms Freeman on the phone while Ms Kutti was with her.

The three face a charge of conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings for allegedly trying to coerce Ms Freeman to say she had committed election fraud.

In 2021, Ms Kutti, who has also lobbied for cannabis companies in Illinois, posted on social media that the allegations of the details of her meeting with Ms Freeman were false.

She wrote: "Fake news collectives used my prior work with Kanye West to negatively associate us to Trump."

The BBC has reached out to Ms Kutti for comment.

Media caption,

Watch: From America's mayor to Trump's co-conspirator

Read Entire Article