WASHINGTON (AP) – Donald Trump has spent much of his career using strong advocates to make his bid. Now he struggles to get help at the highest level when he needs it most.
Since Trump lost the November election to President Joe Biden, Trump has made lawyers bloody. Established businesses have refrained from making unfounded allegations of electoral fraud. Those he did retain made elementary mistakes in matters that were quickly dismissed as meritorious.. His personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, was ridiculed for his actions before a federal judge during one election case.
His legal options contested against the election still needed Trump to represent him in his historic second indictment on charges that he incited the deadly uprising of the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. A team of South Carolina attorneys was retained and subsequently detained, so Trump was left with a Pennsylvania attorney and another from Alabama, who only gave them days to prepare.
Well-known clients are usually strong for ambitious advocates, but Trump’s rocky relationships with his lawyers show the limits to tackling cases with dubious merits. His allegations of fraud were rejected by the courts, his attorney general and other prominent Republicans.
Trump’s prosecutors began their defense by misspelling the words “United States” in their order. And their initial presentation during the trial was presented by even some of Trump’s most ardent supporters.
Trump smokes from his seat in Mar-a-Lago, and some in his circle said he should fire his lawyers. But he may not have many more options. And his legal danger is increasing, recently with a new criminal investigation into his electoral conduct in Georgia.
Trump often used litigation as a weapon. He and his namesake company have been involved in numerous lawsuits, from million-dollar real estate disputes to personal defamation cases and fights with casino patrons. He also regularly threatens legal action.
But apart from a few loyal lawyers like Giuliani and a small, strong team representing him for New York-related sins, it is not clear what heavy hitters are left to represent him.
His indictment, David Schoen, a regular television legal commentator, and Bruce Castor, a former Pennsylvania district attorney, had just over a week to prepare for Trump and his former defense team. roads separated because they refused to present Trump’s claim of election fraud as a defense.
Castor, who has been criticized for his decision as district attorney not to charge actor Bill Cosby in the case of sex crimes, began with a shaky submission. Unlike the Democrats, who relied on a carefully structured and planned presentation to argue the constitutionality of the process, Castor only had a yellow legal sheet with handwritten notes in front of him and he was apparently talking about the cuff.
While watching television on TV, he privately complained that his defense looked weak compared to that of the Democrats, who on January 6 showed an emotional video of the chaos that rocked Capitol Hill. Former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro, who remains in close contact with the former president, has called on him to fire his legal team and take a new approach aimed at Trump’s unfounded allegations of massive election fraud.
Navarro told The Associated Press that he had “warned the president that his legal team would let him down.”
Trump’s first indictment was by well-known attorney Alan Dershowitz, as well as then-White House attorney Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, who were disputing cases before the Supreme Court.
Dershowitz was surprised by Castor’s actions and told Newsmax: “I have no idea what he’s doing.” Several Republican senators were equally stunned. Louisiana Republican Senator Bill Cassidy said Trump’s team did a ‘terrible job’.
When asked about the criticism on Wednesday, Castor told reporters: “Only one person’s opinion matters.” Castor was asked if Trump had any disapproval and replied, “Far from it.”
Trump was barely satisfied with the outcome of his election battles in court, regardless of who the lawyers were. Some of them made strange allegations which courts quickly passed on.
Lawyer Sidney Powell, who according to Trump was part of his team of “amazing lawyers and representatives”, falsely suggested that a seller of voting equipment was created in Venezuela around the elections for Hugo Chavez, who died in 2013 , to direct. Trump’s campaign after that distanced him from Powell, saying she practiced law on her own. The dealer, Dominion Voting Systems, sued Powell last month for defamation and seeks $ 1.3 billion.
The day after the riot, a lawyer representing Trump’s campaign in an election case in Philadelphia asked to withdraw from the case and filed a wonderful motion in federal court saying Trump had the services of the lawyer used to commit a crime and ‘insists on taking action which the lawyer considers repulsive. ”
Dozens of judges have rejected Trump’s election demands, sometimes with fierce criticism. But the power of these false allegations has endured with Trump’s stubborn supporters storming the Capitol on January 6.
While Trump’s remarks during a pre-riot rally drew attention to his calls to “fight,” his advocates for nearly two months pushed false and unfounded allegations of rape in several states, widely promoted by conservative shops and on social media.
But after the indictment, Trump’s legal needs are likely to accelerate, with investigations in New York, Georgia and possibly Washington, DC, where prosecutors will have the power to sue.
“You do not want the last person in America to be a member of the bar and willing to take up your case as your representative,” said Jessica Levinson, director of Loyola Law School’s Public Service. Institute, said.
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Richer reported from Boston and Merchant from Houston. Associated Press authors Jill Colvin and Eric Tucker in Washington, Kate Brumback in Atlanta and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, SC, contributed to this report.