New reporting from CBS News reveals that third-party spoiler candidate Jill Stein’s legal efforts in Nevada and Wisconsin are being aided separately by Jay Sekulow, an attorney who represented Trump during his impeachment trials, and Michael Dean, an attorney involved in lawsuits attempting to overturn the 2020 election results. 

Stein’s campaign has admitted it welcomes the support. On Monday, her campaign manager, Jason Call, acknowledged Trump’s team has ulterior motives for propping up Stein’s spoiler candidacy and showed no qualms about being used in their political games. 

This follows reporting from the Associated Press that exposed GOP efforts to prop up third party candidates like Jill Stein and Cornel West. It revealed that a GOP associated firm, the Synapse Group, collected ballot access signatures on Stein’s behalf in New Hampshire. Meanwhile, Cornel West was aided by a network of Republican operatives across the battlegrounds. In North Carolina, Blitz Canvassing– a firm known for working with Republican congressional races and for a pro-Ron DeSantis super PAC — aided West in gaining ballot access. Republican activists who gathered signatures for West in an effort to “[help] the Trump team” told voters having West on the ballot “helps take away votes” from the Democratic nominee. 

ICYMI: CBS News: Republican allies boost longshot candidate Jill Stein as Democrats try to remove her from ballots in battleground states

By: Allison Novelo 

• [Stein’s] campaign has accepted support from Republican allies as she works to secure ballot access in multiple states, including key battleground states like Nevada and Wisconsin […] 
• In Nevada, where the Green Party was removed from the ballot earlier this month because of incorrect petition forms, according to the Nevada Supreme Court, the party is seeking reinstatement and is being represented by Jay Sekulow, an attorney who represented Trump during his impeachment trials.
• On Friday, the Nevada Green Party asked for emergency intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Nevada Supreme Court’s ruling under the pro bono guidance of Sekulow, the Stein campaign told CBS News.
• In Wisconsin, […] Stein accepted legal representation from Michael D. Dean, a Wisconsin lawyer involved in lawsuits attempting to overturn the 2020 election results on behalf of Trump, according to an ethics complaint filed by the bipartisan group The 65 Project. 
• “We understand that Republicans are going to want to help us for their own reasons, but our reasons are for democracy,” [said Jason Call, Jill Stein’s campaign manager.]
• The Stein campaign learned over the weekend that yet another lawsuit had been filed against the third-party candidate in New Hampshire. In response, the campaign stated it is ready to accept assistance from partisan lawyers if it has to in order to secure ballot access.
• “Cornel West, he’s one of my favorite candidates,” Trump said during a campaign rally in Philadelphia in June. “I like her also, Jill Stein, I like her very much. You know why? She takes 100% from them. He takes 100%.”
• Recent Associated Press reporting shows that Cornel West has a network of GOP operatives supporting his campaign, while Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who suspended his presidential bid last month and endorsed Trump, is now working to remove himself from ballots in states where he believes his candidacy could siphon votes away from Trump.