Lawyer Shopping and DOJ Capture
🟣 Cover-ups & Obstruction ·
2017, ongoing
Summary
Across both terms, Trump exhibited a pattern of cycling through lawyers until finding those willing to advance his personal interests regardless of legal merit, and then elevating those lawyers to government positions. In his first term, Trump cycled through at least a dozen personal attorneys on the Russia investigation alone, including John Dowd (resigned), Don McGahn (resigned, later cooperated with Mueller), Jay Sekulow, and Rudy Giuliani, repeatedly replacing lawyers who counseled compliance with courts or investigators. In his second term, Trump directly appointed three of his personal criminal defense lawyers to top DOJ roles: Todd Blanche (his hush money trial lawyer) as Deputy AG; Emil Bove (his classified documents lawyer) as Principal Associate Deputy AG; and Alina Habba (his civil fraud trial lawyer) as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey. He separately installed his White House aide and former personal attorney Lindsey Halligan as interim U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Courts ruled both Habba’s and Halligan’s appointments unlawful. Legal commentators noted Trump was ‘running out of personal lawyers to elevate to the DOJ.‘
Key Figures
Donald Trump, Robert Mueller, Don McGahn, Rudy Giuliani, Jeff Sessions, William Barr, Todd Blanche, Lindsey Halligan