Trump and his lawyers

(thread) I think we’ll be hearing more about Trump’s lawyers as the Mueller probe unfolds. Lawfare did an analysis of Trump’s relationship with his lawyers. lawfareblog.com/president-and-… Here’s a quick summary:

2/ Trump doesn’t look to his lawyers for legal advice. In fact, he openly disregards legal advice. Instead, he sends his lawyers to do his bidding. His view is that his lawyer’s job is to find a way around the law while providing him with a veil of deniability.

3/ i.e. Cohen paid a porn star hush money while pretending Trump wasn’t involved. Trump orders his lawyers (and staff) to disobey the law; i.e. Trump didn’t want Sessions to recuse himself even though under the circumstances Sessions was required to do so.

4/ The last time a president’s lawyer secretly paid hush money was when Nixon’s lawyer Kalmbach managed secret funds that he used to finance sabotage and spy operations against Democrats (Kalmbach was convicted of illegal fundraising and sentenced to jail.)

5/ While the rules of professional conduct may be the least of Trump’s lawyer’s concerns, it’s worth noting that Rule 4.1 forbids a lawyer from making false statements on behalf of a client, and forbids a lawyer from assisting in any illegal activity.