Ex-Chicago publicist Trevian Kutti a co-defendant in Trump's Georgia indictment
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Former President Donald Trump is now facing his fourth indictment this year, with the latest in Fulton County, Georgia.
It includes 41 counts stemming from alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, and one of the former president's co-defendants is from Chicago.
Her name is Trevian Kutti, and she is a high-profile publicist. CBS 2's Charlie De Mar has been digging into her past.
Chicago resident Trevian Kutti used to be a publicist for celebrities like Ye, formerly Kanye West, and R. Kelly. She even owned a high-end boutique on Oak Street.
But she's now accused of pressuring an election volunteer in Georgia to falsely admit to committing fraud during the 2020 election.
Trevian Kutti is seen on a police body camera video sitting down to meet with Ruby Freeman, an election worker in Georgia, falsely accused by former president Donald Trump of committing election fraud in 2020.
Kutti, a former publicist to R. Kelly and Kanye West, traveled from Chicago in 2021 and showed up unannounced at Freeman's door in Georgia, where "she attempted to pressure Freeman into falsely confessing to participation in election fraud."
"You are a loose end for a party that needs to tidy up," Kutti said on the video.
The former poll worker agreed to talk with Kutti at a police station where Kutti claimed that Freeman's safety was in jeopardy.
"We have 48 hours in which to move you. I cannot say what specifically will take place. I just know that it will disrupt your freedom and (inaudible) the freedom of one or more of your family members," Kutti said.
CBS 2 interviewed Kutti in 2003. She made controversial headlines back then for the provocative window display at her high-end Oak Street boutique G'bani.
And Kutti has been in front of a judge before. She was hit with a restraining order in a stalking incident from inside a Chicago Nordstrom store in 2014. Records show Kutti threatened and falsely accused a woman of stealing a designer necklace from her.
"There are going to start to be people that are flippers or cooperators, who are going start to strike deals with the government. And I think when you get further down that list of 19 towards the bottom, where Miss Kutti is one, those are the people who oftentimes do decide to cooperate."
Former federal prosecutor and veteran attorney Steven Block.
"The government, to bring a racketeering case, they don't need to prove that each of these 19 defendants was in communication with each other. That's not required," Block said.
CBS 2 reached out to Kutti for comment but has not heard back. Campaign finance records show that Kutti previously donated to prominent Democratic candidates like Hillary Clinton.
Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin released a statement on the Georgia case Tuesday, writing partly that the former president is entitled to a presumption of innocence.
The senator from Illinois added, "Donald Trump stands accused of some of the most serious charges ever leveled against an American public figure."
