Conservative lawyers who once defended Trump now won't touch him with a '1,000-foot pole'

Daily Kos Staff

Wednesday October 13, 2021 · 5:01 PM PDT

2021/10/13 · 17:01

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 28: A doorman looks out of the door at the apartment complex where the residence of Rudy Giuliani, former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, is located in Manhattan on April 28, 2021 in New York City. Federal agents executed a search warrant at the residence of Rudy Giuliani, who is under investigation by federal prosecutors concerning his activities in Ukraine. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) — "There's nobody here by that name."

One thing that Donald Trump’s continued corrupt experience on this plane of existence has exposed is how many terrible lawyers there are and also, how many craven, scruples-free attorneys can be bought for, at the very least, the promise of publicity. Trump’s legal woes were mostly put on hold during his presidency, but he is no longer president (regardless of what his tiny mind tells him), and is now facing many legal challenges from a variety of different avenues.

There are sexual assault civil cases and there are the cases surrounding the possibilities that Donald Trump had a conscious hand in the planning of an attempted coup d’etat of our government. Unlike before, where a corrupted Department of Justice under William Barr could be used, along with taxpayer money, to try and help Donald get over some of the legal hurdles he faced, now Trump must pay out of his own coffers. According to a new report from CNN, there are a lot of attorneys who have already done some legal work for Trump over the past few years that are sitting this one out—and the reason may have to do with Donald Trump’s reputation for not paying his debts.

The report says that as Trump is planning a defense against being called to testify by the House Committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, most experts believe his legal strategy will attempt to argue that Trump has executive privilege rights that must be upheld. Previous Trump attorneys like Jay Sekulow and Ty Cobb are notably not present on his current super-squad of attorneys, according to CNN. The reason may be two-fold: some may “have been spooked by Trump's reputation for sometimes not paying as a client”; others may be staying away because Trump’s a known nightmare of a client; and finally, “others still want themselves and their firms to stay far away from Trump's insistence that the election was stolen.”

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) waves as he arrives to the 11th BRICS Summit next to Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro (R) on November 14, 2019 in Brasilia, Brazil. - Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro walked a diplomatic tightrope, as he seeks to boost ties with Beijing and avoid upsetting key ally Donald Trump, on the eve of a summit with their BRICS counterparts from Russia, India and South Africa. (Photo by Sergio LIMA / AFP) (Photo by SERGIO LIMA/AFP via Getty Images) — They wouldn’t cross the street to pee on Donald Trump if he was on fire.

Trump, the man, when not using the bankruptcy court not to pay his bills or using the American taxpayer to pay his bills, has a long history of … not paying his bills. The list of contractors who haven’t received payment in full (or at all) is in the hundreds and goes back decades, along with many filed lawsuits.

But his long history of scammery and dirtbaggery isn’t lucrative or potentially lucrative enough for many high-powered attorneys to continue the ruse that Donald Trump deserves more justice than the rest of us. According to CNN, “at least four well-known lawyers were repeatedly approached by Trump's team for help in recent weeks -- and said no, a source familiar with the discussions” told the news outlet. A former senior Justice Department lawyer under George W. Bush told CNN that law firms were distancing themselves from Trump with "a 1,000-foot pole."

One of those lawyers is reportedly William Burck, who has supposedly turned down Trump’s advances three separate times since the beginning of the year. You may remember Burck as the attorney for Steve Bannon, Don McGhan, and Reince Priebus, leading to experts being mystified about the clear conflicts of interest involved in representing all three former administration members.

CNN also reports that some of the guys that worked in support, even tangentially, of Trump’s Ukraine impeachment—people like Charles Cooper—are a no-show this time around. Cooper told CNN he would be an audience member of any executive privilege battle in a courtroom involving Trump. In fact, he would watch it "from the bleachers."

Trump, for his part, has released a statement saying this is all fake news and "I do pay my lawyers when they do a good job.” That last part is important, as it has been Trump’s calling card for decades to claim that jobs weren’t done well as his legal excuse for not paying out hundreds of contracts for his various real estate properties and interests.

On top of all of this is the reality that any and all lawyers that have been involved in the last super-swampy administration are potentially liable to find themselves giving depositions, and you can see why a powerless Trump isn’t finding the same cocky legal support he once enjoyed.

Jeffrey Clark, former Trump DOJ official, subpoenaed to appear before Jan. 6 panel on Oct. 29. “We need to understand Mr. Clark’s role in these efforts at the Justice Department and learn who was involved across the administration” to overturn 2020 election, Thompson says
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) October 13, 2021

These aren’t heroic acts. These aren’t lawyers who have finally seen the light. These are (mostly) guys that made the money when it was guaranteed. They agreed to work for someone who would likely stay in office for quite a few years, and have all of the powers one might need to pardon or protect them from the grotesque injustices they were tasked to guide through the courts.

Conservative lawyers who once defended Trump now won't touch him with a '1,000-foot pole'

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