Hey Y'All, Jay Sekulow May Have No F**king Clue What He's Doing

Trump's lawyer manages to put his foot in his mouth when "no comment" would have sufficed.

Jay Sekulow via Twitter

This may come as a complete shock to you, but “guy from law school 11 above the ‘rank not published line'” might not know how the legal system works. While carpet bombing the cable news shows to trumpet your latest abortion of an amicus brief about abortion might earn millions in donations, it doesn’t necessarily translate into white-collar know-how.

Marc Kasowitz, a masterful commercial lawyer, has already sidelined himself after he realized that playing the white-collar game with presidential stakes might be outside his skill set. Yet, for some reason, Jay Sekulow is still the public face of the President of the United States.

While you were celebrating Thanksgiving, the Washington Post broke the story that Michael Flynn’s counsel informed lawyers for Trump that he could “no longer discuss the special counsel’s investigation” with them. When reached for comment, Sekulow said:

“No one should draw the conclusion that this means anything about General Flynn cooperating against the president,” he said, adding, “It’s important to remember that General Flynn received his security clearance under the previous administration.”

First of all, everyone should draw that conclusion. Or at least the conclusion that he’s cooperating against someone sufficiently close to Trump that they no longer view Trump as aligned in interest. Because it’s either that or Flynn’s counsel hates Don McGahn’s cologne and Occam’s Razor isn’t just a toiletry Ty Cobb desperately needs. Anyone who has ever worked in the white-collar criminal defense space knows exactly what cutting off communication means. I remember fondly walking into a room of co-defendants’ counsel after five hours of meetings and declaring, “hey, everybody… so, I’m leaving now” and we all knew what was up. Maybe if Wally Wick here spent less time writing angsty poems about how much he hates Hillary and more time learning how the practice works he’d understand that the only answer to this news is “no comment.” You know, what experienced criminal defense lawyers like Ty Cobb and John Dowd apparently did since they aren’t quoted in this Washington Post article.

Second of all, could the effort to pin Flynn — Trump loyalist and former National Security Advisor — on Obama come off any more ham-fisted?

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Reporter: Hey will the sun rise in the East?
Sekulow: I don’t think there’s anything that necessarily leads to that conclusion, also Barack Obama once appeared in the daylight so… ya know.

It continues to boggle the mind that this guy has stretched his 15 minutes of fame this far. Though if this is what Trump sees as capable lawyering, it makes a lot more sense that ghost hunters with no substantive litigation experience and lawyers with anti-gay blogs and dudes who complain about “Satan’s Plan” get nominated for lifetime judicial appointments.

Flynn’s lawyer shuts down communications with Trump’s team, a sign he may be cooperating with Mueller probe [Washington Post]

Earlier: Jay Sekulow: Masterful Showman Or Terrible Attorney?
Jay Sekulow’s Made Millions From His Charity And That Has A Lot Of Experts Very Concerned
Why Does Every Republican Lawyer Have A Terrible Rock Band?
Is Marc Kasowitz Drunk On His Own Power?


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HeadshotJoe Patrice is an 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.