If you’ve been keeping tabs on the legal affairs of one Donald Trump, you likely know that the ex-president is currently struggling to find lawyers willing to represent him in the classified-documents case brought by the Department of Justice. The search for attorneys was necessary by not one, not two, but three lawyers who were working for Trump up and quitting over the course of less than a month, with two of them giving notice just one day after Trump was indicted. Unfortunately for the former guy, it appears that no one is jumping to defend him, which, not surprisingly, has a little something to do with the reported concern that professionally associating with him is tantamount to career suicide. Also probably not helping reel anyone in? Trump’s habit of publicly incriminating himself.
For example, earlier this week, when he said in an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier that he didn’t return classified documents to the government because he was too busy to shift through them and remove his personal items…
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…or, in the same interview, when this happened:
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Asked about Trump’s comments re: retaining government documents because of a supposedly busy schedule, and whether such remarks amounted to a confession, former Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore, who quit in May, told CNN’s Abby Phillip: “It’s hard to know. This is one of the reasons why we always advise our clients, ‘Don’t talk about the case. You have the right to remain silent. Use it. Let your attorneys talk about it.’” Regardless, Parlatore noted that Trump, who was indicted on 37 felony counts and is facing potential prison time, made things significantly worse for himself. “Here’s the problem,” the lawyer said. “Putting that statement out there…prosecutors can absolutely use that. And even if he meant that he was talking about the NARA request [for documents] as opposed to the subpoena request, that’s gonna be very difficult at trial. How are you gonna overcome that? Are you gonna cross-examine Bret Baier on, you know, ‘What do you think he meant?’ Or are you going to put Donald Trump on the stand and say, ‘Would you like to clarify it?’ It’s a difficult situation.”
Asked by Phillip about the specific advice he gave the former president when he was still working for the guy, Parlatore would not share details, but again shared the free advice that “As a general practice, I always tell all my clients, ‘Don’ t talk about the case’.” Parlatore added that he’s only ever had two clients who were ignored such counsel: Trump and Ice T.