Who Is Trevian Kutti? Kanye West Publicist Charged Alongside Donald Trump

On Monday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis brought charges against former president Donald Trump and 18 of his associates over an alleged plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election result in the state of Georgia.

Those charged include Trevian Kutti, formerly Kanye West's publicist who is accused of conspiracy to commit solicitation of false statements and writings, influencing witnesses and violation of Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

Trump is currently the frontrunner in the race to be the Republican's 2024 presidential candidate, meaning his legal travails could have a significant impact on who occupies the White House from January 2025 onwards. The former president has denied any wrongdoing in the Georgia case, with his legal team branding it "shocking and absurd." Trump has already pled not guilty to charges relating to claims he orchestrated the payment of hush money to an adult film actress, mishandled classified documents and broke the law attempting to reverse the 2020 election outcome on a national level.

Kutti describes herself as a "political strategist and solutionist" on her Linkedin profile, in which she claims to have worked a number of jobs in marketing, brand management and media relations. This reportedly includes stints as "director of celebrity and media relations" for both singer-songwriter R. Kelly and boxing champion Terence Crawford.

In December 2021, Reuters reported Kutti claimed she had been "secured as publicist to Kanye West" and "now serves as West's Director of Operations" in her profile on the Women's Global Initiative, a business networking group. This also described her as part of "the Young Black Leadership Council under President Donald Trump."

However, a spokesperson for West, who now goes by the name Ye, told the publication, "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."

It is unclear when exactly Kutti's working relationship with West ended. West vocally supported Trump before himself running unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2020. In December 2022, he sparked outrage by speaking of his "love" for Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler on Alex Jones's InfoWars podcast.

Kutti has been accused of putting pressure on Ruby Freeman, an election worker in Fulton County, Georgia, to falsely admit to electoral fraud in order to boost Trump's hopes of blocking Joe Biden's win in the state.

According to Reuters, Kutti visited Freeman, who she did not know, at her home in January 2021 and falsely suggested she could be arrested if she didn't support baseless election fraud claims.

Kutti allegedly told Freeman she had access to "very high-profile people that can make particular things happen" and said her family could be visited by "an armed squad" of federal officers within 48 hours. Freeman reported the incident to the police.

Newsweek has approached Trevian Kutti for comment by email.

Speaking to Newsweek David Andersen, a U.S. politics expert who teaches at Durham University in the United Kingdom, said Trump's fourth indictment is unlikely to significantly change his public perceptions.

He said: "The latest indictment is unlikely to help Trump but is also unlikely to hurt him much. Trump's supporters are completely convinced that he is the victim of political persecution so will view this as just additional evidence of that.

"Neither indictments nor convictions are likely to sway his supporters. But other Americans who already oppose Trump will also just see this as further evidence that he was a poor leader and a criminal. That is something they were already convinced of so it won't change their preferences or behaviors."