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| Trump Won’t Hire 2 Lawyers Whose Appointments Were Announced Days Ago | Trump Won’t Hire 2 Lawyers Whose Appointments Were Announced Days Ago |
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| President Trump has decided not to hire two lawyers who were announced last week as new additions to his legal team, leaving him with a shrinking stable of lawyers as the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, enters an intense phase. | President Trump has decided not to hire two lawyers who were announced last week as new additions to his legal team, leaving him with a shrinking stable of lawyers as the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, enters an intense phase. |
| “The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement on Sunday morning. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.” | “The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement on Sunday morning. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.” |
| The upheaval on the legal team comes at a critical time for Mr. Trump. The president’s former lead lawyer, John Dowd, quit the team on Thursday, just as Mr. Trump is deciding whether to sit with Mr. Mueller for an interview. | The upheaval on the legal team comes at a critical time for Mr. Trump. The president’s former lead lawyer, John Dowd, quit the team on Thursday, just as Mr. Trump is deciding whether to sit with Mr. Mueller for an interview. |
| While Mr. Trump’s lawyers, including Mr. Dowd, had told the president that the investigation would be over by this point, it seems to be accelerating, as Mr. Mueller appears to be looking into a wide range of matters related to Mr. Trump’s corporate activities, his 2016 campaign, his associates and his time in office. | While Mr. Trump’s lawyers, including Mr. Dowd, had told the president that the investigation would be over by this point, it seems to be accelerating, as Mr. Mueller appears to be looking into a wide range of matters related to Mr. Trump’s corporate activities, his 2016 campaign, his associates and his time in office. |
| The president met with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing, who are married, in recent days to discuss the possibility that they would join his legal team in the Mueller case. According to two people told of details about the meeting, the president did not believe he had personal chemistry with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing. | The president met with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing, who are married, in recent days to discuss the possibility that they would join his legal team in the Mueller case. According to two people told of details about the meeting, the president did not believe he had personal chemistry with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing. |
| But beyond that, Ms. Toensing is representing Mark Corallo, who was the spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team in 2017 before they parted ways. | But beyond that, Ms. Toensing is representing Mark Corallo, who was the spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team in 2017 before they parted ways. |
| Mr. Corallo has told investigators he was concerned that a close aide to Mr. Trump, Hope Hicks, may have been planning to obstruct justice during the drafting of a statement about a meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr. during the campaign. | Mr. Corallo has told investigators he was concerned that a close aide to Mr. Trump, Hope Hicks, may have been planning to obstruct justice during the drafting of a statement about a meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr. during the campaign. |
| Ms. Hicks’s lawyer has strongly denied that suggestion, and White House aides said that Mr. Corallo’s assertion had come up in discussions with the president as he weighed whether to go ahead with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing. | Ms. Hicks’s lawyer has strongly denied that suggestion, and White House aides said that Mr. Corallo’s assertion had come up in discussions with the president as he weighed whether to go ahead with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing. |
| Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Trump took to Twitter from his Florida resort to insist that he faced no problems finding lawyers to represent him in the Russia investigation. | Earlier on Sunday, Mr. Trump took to Twitter from his Florida resort to insist that he faced no problems finding lawyers to represent him in the Russia investigation. |
| “Fame & fortune will never be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted,” Mr. Trump said in a tweet. | “Fame & fortune will never be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted,” Mr. Trump said in a tweet. |
| The president insisted that “many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case,” and that reports of flux on his team were a “Fake News narrative.” Adding new lawyers, he said, would be costly because they would take months “to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more).” | The president insisted that “many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case,” and that reports of flux on his team were a “Fake News narrative.” Adding new lawyers, he said, would be costly because they would take months “to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more).” |
| “I am very happy with my existing team,” he added. | “I am very happy with my existing team,” he added. |
| The news about the canceled legal appointments came as White House officials were girding themselves for an interview on Sunday evening on the CBS program “60 Minutes” with the porn star known as Stormy Daniels. | The news about the canceled legal appointments came as White House officials were girding themselves for an interview on Sunday evening on the CBS program “60 Minutes” with the porn star known as Stormy Daniels. |
| Ms. Daniels claims to have had a sexual relationship with Mr. Trump, and she signed a nondisclosure agreement with one of his lawyers, Michael Cohen, during the 2016 campaign. | Ms. Daniels claims to have had a sexual relationship with Mr. Trump, and she signed a nondisclosure agreement with one of his lawyers, Michael Cohen, during the 2016 campaign. |
| On Sunday, one of Mr. Trump’s closest friends, Christopher Ruddy, said the president was “perplexed” by reports of turmoil in his administration. Speaking on the ABC program “This Week,” Mr. Ruddy, who is the chief executive of Newsmax, said he expected the chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to stay in his job, despite the president’s chafing at what he sees as the restrictions Mr. Kelly has placed on him. | |
| But Mr. Ruddy, citing sources other than the president, said he expected the secretary of veterans affairs, David Shulkin, to leave the cabinet soon. Mr. Shulkin’s departure has been widely expected. And Mr. Ruddy played down reports that Ben Carson, the secretary of housing and urban development, was in trouble, despite Mr. Trump’s private criticism of Mr. Carson to advisers after revelations of excessive spending on an office dining room set. |