Shortly after Charlie Kirk was gunned down in Utah, GOP state Rep. Trevor Lee said he wanted to rename Salt Lake City’s Harvey Milk Boulevard after the slain conservative activist.

A year later, the attorney defending the man accused of killing Kirk will also represent Lee as the former lawmaker faces four felony counts related to mortgage fraud. The Layton Republican resigned his legislative post promptly after the Utah attorney general’s office filed the charges late last month.

Kathryn Nester, a prominent Utah defense attorney, notified the state’s 3rd District Court in a Monday filing that she is taking on the former legislator’s case.

Lee’s first scheduled court appearance is Oct. 28.

Before that hearing, Lee must make an appointment at the Salt Lake County jail to be booked, fingerprinted and photographed, then released until his court date.

Nester, meanwhile, is the public defender for Tyler Robinson, the 23-year-old St. George man who prosecutors allege aimed and fatally fired a rifle at Kirk, one of the most well-known media personalities on the political right, while he was speaking at Utah Valley University last September.

Public records indicate her services are costly. Utah County has so far paid her Salt Lake City firm, Nester Lewis, $1.6 million for its work on the Robinson case.

Lee is likely paying for his own defense.

There is no indication in court records that Lee is considered indigent. And when people who are accused of crimes in Salt Lake County cannot afford a lawyer, their defense is typically procured through the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association.

Nester’s law partner Wendy Lewis is also listed as an attorney for Lee. The firm Nester Lewis did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Notable clients

According to the law firm’s website, Nester has been a trial lawyer in federal and state courts for more than three decades. She previously led Utah’s and San Diego’s federal defender offices.

Nester has an extensive list of high-profile clients, including Lyle Jeffs, a leader of a Utah polygamous sect who was convicted of food stamp fraud.

She more recently represented Kirk Moore, a Utah plastic surgeon who was accused of giving patients fraudulent COVID-19 vaccination cards and throwing away unused vaccines. Moore’s charges were dropped midtrial at the direction of former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Lewis has a trail of notable cases, too. As a federal public defender, she represented Brian David Mitchell, who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart.

Nester and Lewis defended Kouri Richins, a grief author convicted of killing her husband.

About Lee’s politics

While in the Legislature, Lee developed a reputation as a conservative provocateur who drew supporters with his social media posts. Lee previously ran a personal social media account from which he made derogatory comments about women and LGBTQ+ people.

During the most recent legislative session, he made headlines for a bill aimed at preventing immigrants lacking permanent legal status from accessing public benefits, including vaccines, health coverage and food aid. Another measure initially would have effectively erased transgender people from public life.

Lee is accused of forging documents to inflate his income from one employer and submitting a fake job offer from another to secure a $1 million home loan that would also enable him to cash out $317,190 from his prior home.

Videos recorded by the CEO of one of the companies show Lee asking for a $93,000 advance, with Lee promising to help the company obtain a contract with Hill Air Force Base to “make him whole,” according to court documents.

Before his resignation, Lee would have left the Utah House anyway. He lost his reelection bid in June to Davis County Commissioner Bob Stevenson, who received approximately two-thirds of voters’ support.