Donald Trump’s Lead Lawyer In Russia Probe, John Dowd, Resigns After Calling For Mueller Investigation To End
John Dowd, Donald Trump’s lead lawyer in the Mueller investigation, has announced his resignation. According to CNN, Dowd said the following about his departure.
“I love the President and wish him well.”
President Trump has recently sought after more lawyers as the investigation heats up and has begun publicly attacking Mueller, questioning the legitimacy of the investigation.
This has led to rumors that the President is planning on firing Mueller.
John Dowd recently called for the investigation to end. The 77-year-old lawyer initially claimed he was speaking for the President before walking back the claim saying he was only speaking for himself.
Dowd’s resignation comes a few days after President Trump hired the outspoken lawyer Joseph E. diGenova, who claimed a group of FBI and Department of Justice people were trying to frame Trump, without providing any evidence.
It is unclear who will replace Dowd as Trump’s lead lawyer in the Mueller investigation.
The Washington Post broke the story and reports that the resignation was a mutual decision. Trump reportedly lost confidence in Dowd’s ability to lead and the lawyer was frustrated with Trump expanding the team of lawyers.
It was reported earlier this week that Special counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the Trump Organization for business documents.
Despite public claims that he was happy with him, President Trump complained privately in recent days that he thought John Dowd was falling short of his duties, a source familiar with his thinking says https://t.co/dzftuVccrp
— CNN (@CNN) March 22, 2018
Trump publicly denied a New York Times report that stated that Trump was unhappy with his lawyers.
The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018
In what could be a factor in Dowd’s retirement, the New York Times reported that Trump met with Washington lawyer Emmet T. Flood, who represented former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment, about taking over as the lead lawyer in the Mueller probe.
John Down learned about the meeting from the press. It is reported that Trump is looking for lawyers who will take a more aggressive approach in the Muller investigation.
Some commentators have suggested that Trump calling for the Mueller investigation to end through his lawyer is obstruction of justice. Some theorize that it was the reason Dowd walked back his statement by saying he was speaking for himself.
House Speaker Paul Ryan said earlier this week that he has received assurances that Mueller will not be fired. Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham are among the Republicans to publicly defend the Muller investigation.
