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A lawyer who once represented T.I. is at the center of former president Donald Trump’s defense team for his election interference case in Georgia.
Source: Joe Raedle / Getty
As the criminal case against Donald Trump brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is underway, Steven Sadow, the leading defense lawyer is beginning to make his presence known. He argued before Judge Scott McAfee Friday (Dec. 1), that the court should consider throwing out the 13 felony charges against Trump, stating that his false claims concerning the 2020 presidential election he lost were protected by the First Amendment.
Sadow is best known as a litigator specializing in white-collar cases and representing high-profile figures. One of them, veteran Atlanta rapper and actor T.I., has heaped praise on Sadow in the past by referring to him as “probably the best criminal defense attorney of his time.” In addition, T.I. proclaimed him a person with a “slight hint of genius” after Sadow got him a plea deal with a one-year sentence for gun charges. Sadow was brought on to replace Drew Findling on the day that Donald Trump voluntarily surrendered to Fulton County authorities.
Steven Sadow has defended other notable clients such as Rick Ross (who name-drops him in his 2019 song “Turnpike Ike”), National Football League star Ray Lewis and recently represented Gunna, who was indicted along with Young Thug by Fulton County in a sweeping RICO case last year. Sadow has publicly stated that he’s not a Donald Trump supporter in a post made on X, formerly Twitter, back in 2017.
Sadow, 69, has been reserved about the current case, refusing to respond to press inquiries about his role on the defense team. But he appeared on an episode of the expediTIously with Tip “T.I.” Harris podcast last year to talk about his experiences as a defense attorney, stating his desire to limit the overreach of federal power against the people for being a lawyer. “They’ve got to be protected against the government,” he said.
In the hour-long show, T.I. asked him a pertinent question. “What are the intricacies of cooperation? Like, how do you arrive at that conclusion?”
“When I don’t think I can win,” Sadow replied. “If I don’t think my client’s got a chance of winning in the courtroom, and the risk of trial far, far exceeds the chances of me being successful, I won’t tell them to take the risk.”
