Washington A number of high-powered lawyers who have represented Donald Trump in the past are sitting out his latest legal battle, as the former President prepares to assert executive privilege to block congressional investigators from getting information on the January 6 insurrection. That's left Trump with a relatively small legal team without a lot of experience litigating issues of executive privilege as he readies for a court fight that could test major issues of presidential authority. Some go-to attorneys have been spooked by Trump's reputation for sometimes not paying as a client, according to several people familiar with conservative legal circles. Others watched closely as lawyers fled Trump's prior teams, frustrated by him as a client or facing their own ethical predicaments. Others still want themselves and their firms to stay far away from Trump's insistence that the election was stolen."It's not a 10-foot pole" for law firms distancing themselves from Trump, "it's a 1,000-foot pole," said John Yoo, a University of California at Berkeley law professor who held a senior Justice Department position in the George W. Bush administration. More than a half-dozen prominent attorneys who took notable roles in defending Trump or his advisers in the past are not assisting him this round. Those include Jay Sekulow and Ty Cobb, according to sources familiar with Trump's legal effort. And 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 tells CNN. Among the four is William Burck, the white-collar lawyer who represented 11 Trump associates in and after the Mueller investigation. Burck turned Trump down three times in recent months, according to people familiar with the former President's orbit, because he wanted to stay away from how toxic Trump's situation has become after the attempt to overturn the election, the people said. Trump said in a statement that he had never asked the four lawyers who turned him down, including Burck, for help. "I don't even know who they are, they are just looking to get publicity," the ex-President said. "I am using lawyers who have been with us from the beginning.""I do pay my lawyers when they do a good job," Trump added. Indeed, lawyers who worked in Trump's White House or campaign are still at work for the ex-President and now focused on more narrow tasks, such as handling executive privilege discussions with the National Archives or communicating with potential ex-White House witnesses called to Capitol Hill. Two former legal advisers -- Patrick Philbin from the Trump White House counsel's office and Justin Clark from the 2020 campaign -- are still involved. Clark, for instance, signed letters outlining Trump's executive privilege concerns to four witnesses under subpoena.
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Article Link: https://us.cnn.com/2021/10/13/politics/conservative-lawyers-steer-clear-of-trump/index.html
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