He mentions that the EFF isn't taking on the full load of the case, but maybe he'd get more donations if EFF acted as an intermediary and managed the donations for him. He mentions several times questions like "Why should I trust you?", and his answer, "I'm very ethical", is not that reliable in and of itself. If the EFF sets up a fund, we wouldn't have to worry about suspicions about the use of the money and Geohot wouldn't have to worry about whether certain things qualify as "legal expenses" or outright temptations to misuse the fund.

He may also be able to circumvent PayPal fees, ultimately giving him more money, and he won't have to worry about transferring the remainder to the EFF at the end of it all.

I think that if the EFF won't assume such an important case completely, they could at least help out with some payment processing.