Trump's team is what happens 'when you don't pay your legal bills'
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
A gavel sits on a desk inside the Court of Appeals at the new Ralph L. Carr Colorado Judicial Center, which celebrated its official opening on Monday Jan. 14, 2013, in Denver. Brennan Linsley / AP
It wasn't until late last week that Donald Trump's legal team expanded in preparation for the Senate's impeachment trial, and as the Center for a New American Security's Carrie Cordero noted, it's not exactly a powerhouse roster.
"Contrary to tone of some coverage, I'm struck by the *lack* of conservative legal star power on Trump's impeachment team," Cordero wrote, adding that there's "no credible constitutional superstar."
George Conway appeared to be thinking along the same lines, arguing in a Washington Post op-ed, "This is what happens when you don't pay your legal bills."
There was a point a couple of years ago, as the president's Russia scandal was intensifying, when he needed sound legal representation and bragged that the "top" law firms were eager to take him on as a client. That was very hard to believe: I put together a list in April 2018 of the lawyers who'd turned Trump down, and it wasn't an especially short list.
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President Trump, whose businesses and now campaign have left a long trail of unpaid bills behind them, has never discriminated when it comes to stiffing people who work for him.
That includes lawyers -- which is part of the reason he found the need to make some curious last-minute tweaks to his team, announcing the addition of the legal odd couple of Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth W. Starr.
Who in their right mind does pro-bono for Trump?
I would imagine loads of folks do. They just don't know it at the time.
One of the things that has been pointed out over and over again is that trump has no long term/life long friends. He ends up throwing them all under the bus or fucking them over in some way..
The president has consistently encountered difficulty in hiring good lawyers to defend him. In 2017, after Robert S. Mueller III became special counsel, Trump couldn't find a high-end law firm that would take him as a client.
His reputation for nonpayment preceded him: One major Manhattan firm I know had once been forced to eat bills for millions in bond work it once did for Trump. No doubt other members of the legal community knew of other examples.
Out of curiosity, do you remember how the law firm managed to not sue Trump personally for non-payment?
Lawyers usually do not sue their clients for fees because it is likely to trigger a countersuit for legal malpractice, whether warranted or not. In Trump's case, that would be inevitable. The firm undoubtedly was aware of his very litigious history. Any litigation has risks. There is never a guarantee for any trial result. Professional liability insurance companies that provide insurance coverage for lawyers recommend against suing clients.
Makes sense counselor.
I believe you mean EX president.
Of course, being cheap wasn't the only reason Trump struck out among the nation's legal elite. There was the fact that he would be an erratic client who'd never take reasonable direction -- direction as in shut up and stop tweeting.
Trump never hid his insanity. He thought that it was actually sanity.
Sad that so many sub 70 IQ folk went along.
Yep I'm talking about anybody who wears a MAGA hat.
What difference does it make? He could use a 1st year law student and succeed at this trial - the jury is already fixed - the spineless unprincipled Republican Senators dance to the tune of their Pied Piper's flute.
Here is a thought. Maybe Trump should defend himself. He might just piss off the Rs so badly with his over-the-top-of-the-top level of lying that he winds up convicting himself.
I would gladly pay to watch that.
"A man who represents himself has a fool for a lawyer"
I believe some of his more intelligent advisor's had been doing their best to keep him from ever testifiying under oath. (Apparently this goes back to the beginning of his term in office). (Because he's such a compulsive liar, he couldn't stop himself from lying. And lying under oath in a court of law has serious consequences).
As I've pointed out, it doesn't matter if he defends himself, has a 10-year old defend him, or have a team of the most brilliant trial lawyers in the country defending him. The Star Chamber has already decided the 'not guilty' verdict.
EVIDENCE? EVIDENCE? Who the fuck needs evidence.
I know, but I think if Trump were to defend himself he could actually lose (as I described).
I had a thought that the trial should be delayed until after the midterm elections, when maybe the American people will wake up to realize that Senators with integrity and principle should take the place of spineless self-interested ones who care more about winning for personal gain, rather than the good of the nation and maybe enough Senators will be elected to provide the necessary 2/3 majority. Trump is going to continue to lie and declare that his being reelected was stolen and who knows, the people might get tired of that crap. I think it's more important that Trump never take office again than anything else.
Trump and Giuliani will both be charged with felonies in the near future.
Money or no, if I was a lawyer, I wouldn't want my name associated with trump in any way.
I agree-- I think that's the other reason lawyers don't want the name associated with him.
It is hard to see how any reputable law firm/lawyer would ever represent him. It's a lose lose for the firm/lawyer.
It is hard to see why anyone would perform any service for Trump for anything.
I have been wondering what kind of dirt Trump has on Giuliani. He could not have expected to win the election fraud. What did Giuliani think would happen when Trump's scam failed? That Trump would thank him for the effort and pay his legal bill?
Very strange.
To say the least, T,G. It's difficult to try to apply logic to anything that Trump or his minions do.
Yeah, even today one actually referred to the 'stolen' election.
They all knew his history of stiffing people yet worked for him anyway so I have no sympathy for them what so ever.
Trump doesn't pay his bills, what a fucking shock
Thankfully, we now have an honest president who rides a bicycle for daily exercise instead of staying in bed all day eating Big Macs and watching Fox and Friends reruns.
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Trump and Giuliani will both be charged with felonies in the near future.
Charged by who? In what court or jurisdiction?
I figure SDNY stands the best shot at a conviction.
You are aware that rudy is being sued for over 1 billion dollars, right?
Words have consequences.
Rudy has until tomorrow to do a public retraction or the suit goes forward.