Trump's Lawyers Thought He'd Go To Prison And Other Stuff We're Learning While The Rest Of You Watch This Show Hearing

John Dowd's departure should resonate with any attorney handling a terminally uncooperative client.

The hearings this morning were super exciting in that “harbinger of the death of the Republic” sort of way. But while we’ve all watched this show which will all end with a straight party line vote and Susan Collins torpedoing her future political career, the actual legal news of the day comes from Bob Woodward’s upcoming book Fear: Trump In The White House (affiliate link) which comes out next week.

The advance copies are out there now and some of the revelations are stunning. From aides stealing orders from Trump’s desk so he won’t sign them to Defense Secretary Mattis telling aides to just go ahead and ignore Trump’s ranting, the portrait Woodward paints makes All the President’s Men look like some Lincoln hagiography. But from the lawyerly perspective, the key revelation arrives from new insights into John Dowd’s departure from the legal team. From a Washington Post preview:

Later that month, Dowd told Trump: “Don’t testify. It’s either that or an orange jumpsuit.”

But Trump, concerned about the optics of a president refusing to testify and convinced that he could handle Mueller’s questions, had by then decided otherwise.

“I’ll be a real good witness,” Trump told Dowd, according to Woodward.

“You are not a good witness,” Dowd replied. “Mr. Presdient, I’m afraid I just can’t help you.”

The next morning, Dowd resigned.

Has Rudy Giuliani succeeded where Dowd failed, or are we staring headlong into a perjury-filled interview with the fate of the White House on the line?

I wonder if we can coax Robert Redford out of retirement for the movie adaptation.


HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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