No problems at all with his legal team, with whom he is "very happy"

As President Trump heads into one of the most critical phases of the special counsel’s investigation, his personal legal team has shrunk to essentially just one member [Jay Sekulow, a conservative commentator who made his name on religious freedom cases], and he is struggling to find any top lawyers willing to represent him.

[...]

In some cases, lawyers’ firms have blocked any talks, fearing a backlash that would hurt business.

The president lost two lawyers in just the past four days, including one who had been on board for less than a week.

Joseph diGenova, a longtime Washington lawyer who has pushed theories on Fox News that the F.B.I. made up evidence against Mr. Trump, left the team on Sunday. He had been hired last Monday, three days before the head of the president’s personal legal team, John Dowd, quit after determining that the president was not listening to his advice.

[...]

Roger Cossack, a seasoned legal analyst, said the key to successfully defending a high-profile client under immense scrutiny was to have a cohesive legal team with a consistent strategy.

“In these types of cases, you need highly competent lawyers and a client who will listen and follow their advice,” Mr. Cossack said. “If you don’t have both, you have what we’re seeing here: chaos and disaster.”

[...]

“He is looking for the guy who can say, ‘I know how to handle Mueller, I know you think he is bad, and we’ll take care of it.’ Problem is you can’t find that lawyer because no one will be able to do that.”

[...]

[Trump attorney Marc] Kasowitz pushed for an adversarial approach to the special counsel, which the president was poised to follow. But Mr. Kasowitz clashed with Mr. Kushner, and he was soon pushed aside after a series of missteps and embarrassing incidents.

[...]

When Mr. Kasowitz took the lead after Mr. Mueller was appointed in May, he wanted to follow a model used by Mr. Clinton, with a separate team of lawyers and communications professionals handling issues related to the inquiry, so that the White House staff could keep its distance.

But Mr. Trump, who trusts few people and considers himself his best lawyer, spokesman and strategist, never wanted that type of system. As a result, his legal and public relations strategies have been out of sync, with the president at times publicly contradicting his lawyers, and the White House often finding itself flat-footed in the face of new disclosures about the Russia investigation.

[...]

This month, the president met with the veteran lawyer Emmet Flood about the possibility of joining the legal team. But Mr. Trump was put off by the fact that Mr. Flood, a Republican, had represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment process, and Mr. Flood has made clear that he will not represent the president if Marc E. Kasowitz, his brash longtime personal lawyer, has any role in the effort.

Mr. Trump also tried to recruit Theodore B. Olson, a well-known Republican lawyer, but Mr. Olson has said he would not be representing the president.

[...]

One reason Mr. Dowd quit was that, against his advice, Mr. Trump was insistent that he wanted to answer questions under oath from Mr. Mueller, believing that it would help clear him.

Mr. Dowd had concluded that there was no upside and that the president, who often does not tell the truth, could increase his legal exposure if his answers were not accurate.

  NYT

"If".

Mr. Trump, hoping to bolster his team, met with Mr. diGenova and Ms. Toensing in recent days but, according to two people told of details about the meeting, did not believe he had personal chemistry with them.

There were also significant conflict-of-interest issues, but Mr. Trump could have waived them if he wanted. Ms. Toensing is representing Mark Corallo, who was the spokesman for Mr. Trump’s legal team in 2017 before they parted ways. Mr. Corallo has told investigators that he was concerned that a close aide to Mr. Trump, Hope Hicks, may have been planning to obstruct justice during the drafting of a statement about a meeting between a Russian lawyer and Donald Trump Jr. during the campaign.

How could he have waived that conflict? That's a big conflict. To argue on behalf of Corallo - against Hope Hicks, the lawyers would have to implicate Trump in Hicks' actions.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

He finally had no choice

President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russians from the United States on Monday, including 12 people identified as Russian intelligence officers who have been stationed at the United Nations in New York, in response to Russia’s alleged poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain.

The expulsion order, announced by administration officials, also closes the Russian consulate in Seattle. The Russians and their families have seven days to leave the United States, according to officials.

  NYTCNN

Why Seattle? Is it the Russian consulate in the US closest to Russia? Can they see Russia from their front porch?

The officials said that the closure of the consulate in Seattle was ordered because of its proximity to a U.S. naval base.

Is it the only Russian consulate near a US military facility? Seems like that would be a good place fromn which to keep an eye on them.

“Today’s actions make the United States safer by reducing Russia’s ability to spy on Americans and to conduct covert operations that threaten America’s national security,” the White House said in a statement.

Except spying in the age of cyber hacking seems to be the currently preferred method. They can do that from anywhere.

Mr. Trump has said that, despite its denials, Russia was likely behind it. “It looks like it,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on March 15, adding that he had spoken with Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain.

“We are in deep discussions,” Mr. Trump continued. “A very sad situation. It certainly looks like the Russians were behind it. Something that should never, ever happen. And we’re taking it very seriously, as I think are many others.”

Very sad indeed. He trusted Vlad.

The senior administration officials who described the expulsion order said the three weeks that lapsed between the attack and White House action was due to close coordination among about a dozen American allies.

And Trump not wanting to believe that he has to risk making an enemy of the one person on earth who has the power to take him down at the snap of his fingers.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Another GOP congress critter leaves

Rep. Ryan Costello (R-PA) revealed on Sunday that he will not seek re-election in his district in the suburbs of Philadelphia, which was redrawn to favor Democrats earlier this year.

  TPM

That's a huge mischaracterization. What happened is the courts ordered the state to redraw their districts fairly, since they had been gerrymandered to favor Republicans. Apparently Costello doesn't think he could win without a gerrymandered district. And he isn't even going to try.

Costello told the West Chester paper the Daily Local News that he was leaving Congress due to the current “political environment.”

“Whether it’s (President Trump’s rumored affair with porn start) Stormy Daniels, or passing an omnibus spending bill that the president threatens to veto after promising to sign, it’s very difficult to move forward in a constructive way today,” he said. “Plus I think there is a lot of hate out there, from the left especially, and it’s a very angry environment.”

Yes, all that hate coming from the left. LOL

Costello’s decision comes after the state Supreme Court redrew the congressional map in Pennsylvania after ruling that the old map draw by Republicans was unconstitutional. Republicans have fought the decision and attempted to impeach state Supreme Court justices appointed by Democrats.

In an interview later on Sunday, Costello admitted to MSNBC’s Kasie Hunt that the new map was a factor in his decision to retire.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oh no! He's lost Ann Coulter

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:  This:

I bet Remington wishes Obama were still in office

That was good for gun sales.

Remington Outdoor, one of the US’s biggest gunmakers, has filed for bankruptcy protection as it struggles against a mountain of debts and falling sales.

The 202-year-old company, which made the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle used in the Sandy Hook shooting in Connecticut that left 20 first-graders and six teachers dead , filed for chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court on Sunday.

[...]

The company plans to reduce its debts by transferring control of the firm to its creditors.

Gunmakers have suffered since the election of Donald Trump, who describes himself as a “true friend” of the industry, because gun enthusiasts typically buy more firearms when they fear that politicians might be about to bring in tighter controls. In the first nine months of Trump’s presidency, Remington’s sales declined by 27.5%.

“They call it the Trump slump,” said Robert Spitzer, a professor at the State University of New York and expert on the economics of guns.

[...]

Remington is being sued by the parents of the Sandy Hook victims in the Connecticut supreme court.

  Guardian

Maybe bankruptcy will protect Remington from its victims.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Another raging warhawk who dodged war

Dick.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Reminder for 2nd Amendment Freaks

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Old Lard Ass doing what he does best

His base believes him.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Oops

President Trump’s legal team reversed course Sunday, announcing that a lawyer slated to join the attorneys handling the response to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation will not come on board after all, the latest sign of disarray for Trump’s legal strategy.

[...]

Trump is now left, at least temporarily, without a traditional criminal defense attorney as Mueller’s team appears to be entering a critical phase in its investigation into Moscow’s interference in the 2016 election and whether the president’s campaign cooperated with Russia in this effort.

Joseph diGenova, the lawyer Trump wanted to replace Dowd, has often stridently defended the president on Fox News Channel and cast the Mueller probe as a conspiracy against him. Trump enjoyed the TV appearances and wanted diGenova on his team even though he did not know him, officials say.

But in a statement on Sunday, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said both diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, who is also a lawyer, would not be working on the Russia probe because clients they are representing in connection with the investigation posed conflicts of interest.

[...]

Trump’s issues with diGenova and Toensing went beyond their conflicts, said a person who spoke to the president recently. After meeting with the husband-and-wife team on Thursday — after diGenova’s hiring had been announced — the person said Trump was less impressed with diGenova than he had been while watching the former U.S. attorney on television.

  WaPo

Okay, here's the thing about that: diGenova and Toensing would have known they had a conflict because of other clients before they went to talk to him.  And they do. What was the idea?  They'd dump the others in favor of taking on Trump?  Maybe pass them off to some other lawyer in the firm.

So, that's not the reason they aren't taking on the case. It's possible Trump decided he didn't like the guy, but if that's actually the reason (which I don't believe, either, because they originally said diGenova was on the team), then it's because after talking to him, diGenova advised him to do something he didn't want to do, or not do something he wants to do...in other words, it became clear to one or both parties that Trump wouldn't take his attorney's advice, and no attorney worth his salt will take on a client like that.

Trump did not closely research diGenova or even consult with top aides, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and White House counsel Donald McGahn, before hiring him.

Of course not.  He saw him on Fox News seeming to defend Trump. Dowd was getting cantakerous, and this guy seemed like he really liked Trump, and that's all the Inflatable Rooster cared about.

Trump had hoped diGenova could serve as a surrogate in television interviews and play the role of attack dog in criticizing the Mueller probe.

DiGenova must have set him straight on that count.

Trump’s legal effort is now led by [Jay] Sekulow, a conservative attorney and radio host who has concentrated on constitutional issues, and assisted by Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer paid by taxpayers to represent the institution of the presidency rather than Trump personally. Cobb, too, has occasionally drawn the president’s ire, people familiar with the team have said.

[...]

Trump has recently been relying on Marc E. Kasowitz, who led his legal team until this summer and has represented Trump in several cases over the years. Kasowitz and Trump clashed over a number of issues, including Kasowitz’s belief that Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and a top White House aide, needed to leave the administration because of the potential legal problems he faced due to the probe and the potential problems they could cause Trump. After Dowd’s hiring, Kasowitz took a diminished role in handling the case.

[...]

Trump’s struggles are reminiscent of his difficulties in spring 2017 when he was first seeking new lawyers to represent him in the Russia probe. He interviewed a half-dozen high-profile legal stars in the white-collar defense bar, including Emmet T. Flood, Brendan V. Sullivan Jr. and A.B. Culvahouse Jr. All of them declined.

[...]

Ultimately, said one person close to Trump’s legal team, “He’s his own lawyer. Always has been and always will be.”

The person added: “You know what they say about a ‘lawyer’ who has himself as a client.”

Yes. Yes, we do.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:



Potential ethical problems - or an unwillingness to pay bills - or, in Trump's case, both.

Yep, he's sick

In an interview that aired on CNN Thursday night, [Karen] McDougal told Anderson Cooper that the now-president once compared her favorably to his older daughter — and now-White House senior adviser — Ivanka.

“He said I was beautiful like her, and ‘you’re a smart girl,’ ” said McDougal, who was 35 at the time of her alleged affair with Trump, then 60. “There wasn’t a lot of comparing, but there was some, yeah. I heard a lot about her.”

  People

Anderson Cooper: How was the conversation?

Stormy Daniels: Ummm (LAUGH) it started off-- all about him just talking about himself.

[...]

Stormy Daniels: He quit talking about himself and he asked me things and I asked him things and it just became like more appropriate.

Anderson Cooper: It became more comfortable.

Stormy Daniels: Yeah. He was like, "Wow, you-- you are special. You remind me of my daughter." You know-- he was like, "You're smart and beautiful, and a woman to be reckoned with, and I like you. I like you."

  CBS

Stormy? That is not more appropriate.

UPDATE:

LOL

Trump:  "Tiffany?  Who's Tiffany?"

Remember when he said he likes it when Ivanka calls him "Daddy"?

Also...(December 2017)