The jig is up: Donald Trump’s Russia probe legal team member abruptly quits
There’s no more surefire sign that your scandals have doomed you than when your own legal team begins preemptively bailing on you. That’s the situation Donald Trump now finds himself in tonight, just one day after an astoundingly self defeating interview that set what’s left of his presidency on fire. That’s right, even his own historically inept Russia probe legal team has begun abruptly quitting on him.
So who’s the first member of Trump’s legal team to bail? According to John Santucci of ABC News: “Sources tell ABC News that Mark Corallo, spokesperson for Trump legal team working Russia probe had resigned.” (link). The specific reason for his resignation isn’t yet known, but take your pick. Donald Trump just finished publicly attacking his own Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General, while publicly threatening to fire the Special Counsel. And as of this evening there’s word that Trump has begun inquiring as to whether he can pardon himself and his kids, a surefire sign that he knows the jig is up. So what next?
As far as anyone knows, Donald Trump’s attorneys are still working for him as of this evening. That includes Marc Kasowitz, who recently threatened to track down a detractor at his house. It also includes Jay Sekulow, who recently tried to blame the Secret Service for Trump’s Russia scandal. And it includes Ty Cobb, who appears to be on the government payroll despite representing Trump personally. Will they now follow Corallo out the door tonight or this week?
Perhaps Mark Corallo got spooked when Donald Trump began asking around as to whether he can pardon himself and his family (link). Pardoning oneself is, legally speaking, an admission of guilt. In such case there wouldn’t be much that Trump’s legal team can do for him. And in any case, if Trump pardons himself, his presidency is over.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report