Donald Trump’s lawyers resign following indictment and leaked recording revelations
Two lawyers representing former US President Donald Trump have resigned, following his indictment on charges of mishandling classified documents, they announced on Friday.
“This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation,” read a joint statement from Jim Trusty and John Rowley.
“We know he will be vindicated in his battle against the Biden administration’s partisan weaponisation of the American justice system,” the pair added.
“Now that the case has been filed in Miami, this is the logical moment for us to step aside and let others carry the cases through to completion,” the statement concluded.
Mr Trump said on social media that he was being represented by white collar defence lawyer Todd Blanche.
The lawyers’ resignation came a day after Mr Trump was indicted on seven charges relating to the handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
Mr Trump has previously claimed that all of the documents he retained at the estate were declassified. But a transcript of an audio recording obtained by CNN appeared to show Mr Trump discussing “secret” documents.
“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” says Mr Trump on the transcript, reportedly from a 2021 meeting.
Part of the transcript addresses policy with Iran, often a point of tension within the Trump White House as tensions rose over flashpoints such as the assassination of Qassem Solemani.
Mr Trump also complains about his chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley.
“Well, with Milley – uh, let me see that, I’ll show you an example. He said that I wanted to attack Iran. Isn’t that amazing? I have a big pile of papers, this thing just came up. Look. This was him,” the transcript records him saying.
“They presented me this – this is off the record, but – they presented me this. This was him. This was the Defence Department and him. We looked at some. This was him. This wasn’t done by me, this was him.”
Mr Trump added: “All sorts of stuff – pages long, look. Wait a minute, let’s see here. I just found, isn’t that amazing? This totally wins my case, you know. Except it is like, highly confidential. Secret. This is secret information. Look, look at this.”
Federal prosecutors subpoenaed Mr Trump for a document referenced in this part of the transcript, and are also in possession of the audio recording, CNN reported.
The investigation into classified documents is being led by special counsel Jack Smith, who is also leading a separate investigation into attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, which Mr Trump lost to Joe Biden.
Mr Trump’s former military valet, Walt Nauta, has also been charged alongside him, the Wall Street Journal reported. Mr Nauta went to work at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort after working for him in the White House.
Mr Nauta reportedly helped to move cardboard boxes at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate which contained documents and other mementoes from his time as president.
Mr Nauta initially told investigators he did not know whether Mr Trump had retained classified records, according to media reports, but later said he had moved some of the boxes.
The summons sent to Mr Trump as part of his indictment indicates US District Judge, Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by the former president, will be assigned to oversee his case, at least initially, according to ABC News, citing sources.
Judge Cannon, who was appointed by Mr Trump in 2019, has been accused by critics of making questionable decisions that favored Mr Trump in legal skirmishes that played out during the investigation last year.
Mr Trump is expected to speak at the Georgia Republican Party’s annual convention in Columbus on Saturday. He will be one of many prominent Republicans to speak at the event, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has voiced her support for Mr Trump.
Other Republicans have also come to his defence. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said it was a “dark day” for the country, and pledged that “House Republicans will hold this brazen weaponisation of power accountable”.
Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, who is also running for the White House, tweeted: “The weaponisation of federal law enforcement represents a mortal threat to a free society. We have for years witnessed an uneven application of the law depending upon political affiliation.”
