Law firms refuse meetings to defend Trump in Russia probe
According to a report by Yahoo News on Tuesday, several of the country’s top lawyers and law firms refused to even meet with President Donald Trump to consider defending him as the Russia investigation goes further and further.
The list included the likes of the following: Brendan Sullivan of Williams & Connolly, Ted Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Paul Clement and Mark Filip of Kirkland & Ellis, and Robert Giuffra of Sullivan & Cromwell.
— New York Times writer to Trump: ‘Stop tweeting and go to bed’ —
As one of the lawyers close to the talks told the outlet, “The concerns were, ‘The guy won’t pay and he won’t listen,’” with the lawyers and law firms worried that Trump will simply disregard their counsel. There are also concerns about Trump’s propensity to turn to Twitter for even matters that should be private. In all, it seems these top legal minds simply weren’t willing to risk it.
Trump’s search for an outside attorney came to an end last month when he announced he would be turning to Marc Kasowitz, a longtime personal lawyer, to head up the legal team in his defense. However, Republicans are worried about the choice because Kasowitz is known for being loud and aggressive, which could be damaging to the optics of a highly-publicized investigation like this one.
