As Donald Trump prepares for an arraignment hearing in Miami on Tuesday, the former president has run into a problem of his own making: No one wants to join his legal team.
Trump is staring down a damning indictment from the federal government filled with intricate details about his alleged mishandling of classified documents. The charges involve audio recordings, photos of top secret documents being stored in a bathroom, and testimony from Trump’s former attorneys who were compelled to testify after the special counsel secured a crime-fraud exception. Whoever represents the former president will have their work cut out for them, and Trump is not getting any takers.
According to The Guardian, Trump and his current legal team spent Monday afternoon attempting to secure a local attorney for the Miami arraignment, but “several attorneys” declined the offer. To the surprise of no one, Trump’s reputation has preceded him:
Part of the problem of recruiting new lawyers has been Trump’s reputation for being a notoriously difficult client who has a record of declining legal advice and seeking to have his lawyers act as attack dogs or political aides rather than attorneys bound by ethics rules, people close to the process said.
The other concern for the top lawyers in Florida being contacted by Trump’s advisers has been the perceived reputational damage that could come from defending the former president, the people said, not just because of his politics but also because of the strength of the indictment, which could potentially lead to years in prison.
Not only is Trump unable to find a local attorney for the Florida proceedings, but The Guardian reports that he’s yet to obtain a “specialist national security lawyer” who can obtain a security clearance to navigate the Espionage Act charges lobbied against the former president. We’re no legal experts, but it sounds Trump is going to need one of those.
(Via The Guardian)