President Donald Trump doesn’t have any idea why his son-in-law Jared Kushner and since-departed White House figures have better lawyers than he does, the Washington Post reported, among other things.
Hat tip to USC Gould Law professor Orin Kerr for highlighting this nugget of the Post’s story, “‘Winter is coming’: Allies fear Trump isn’t prepared for gathering legal storm.”
One of the things apparently motivating these fears is that there’s a perception that Trump doesn’t have an adequate legal team to deal with a host of issues, Robert Mueller Probe-related or otherwise (here we refer to the Southern District of New York case against Michael Cohen).
Trump has reportedly wondered aloud as to why Kushner, soon-to-depart White House lawyer Don McGahn, former chief of staff Reince Priebus, and Steve Bannon have better lawyers than he does.
A person who has “discussed the matter” with the president claims that Trump “wonders why he doesn’t have lawyers like [they do]” and has particularly pined for the services of Kushner’s attorney, Abbe Lowell.
“I need a lawyer like Abbe,” a second advisor quoted the president.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s current personal attorney, pushed back on the notion that Trump has considered bringing Lowell aboard, but he did provide some insight into the kind of lawyer Trump prefers. He said Lowell’s aggressiveness and attention to detail are traits Trump might find attractive.
“This president might like that better,” he said. “If he thinks someone isn’t being tough enough, he has a tendency to go out to defend himself. And that’s not good.”
Amusingly, Giuliani spelled out exactly why lawyers likely aren’t jumping at the chance to defend the president of the United States.
Trump’s legal representation has been in flux for some time, given the departures of John Dowd and Ty Cobb, and the arrival of Giuliani. White House lawyer Emmet Flood was, by all accounts, the most important addition to an otherwise hair-on-fire defense squad. Marc Kasowitz was given a reduced role, Michael Cohen was raided by the feds, and McGahn is set to leave. Attack dog Joe diGenova appeared to be in, and then he was out.
Jay Sekulow is seemingly the only Trump lawyer with any visibility to stay on the case since the Mueller Probe began.
[Image Win McNamee/Getty Images]