US President Donald Trump has sought his longtime lawyer
Marc Kasowitz to provide legal advice in a federal investigation of his campaign’s alleged ties to Russia. But it turns out that Kasowitz wasn’t Trump’s first choice.
Partners from four of America’s most prestigious law firms were among those approached by the White House to represent Trump. They
rebuffed the offers, according to Yahoo News.
Among them were Brendan Sullivan Jr. of Williams & Connolly; Theodore Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher; Paul Clement and Mark Filip of Kirkland & Ellis; and Robert Giuffra Jr. of Sullivan & Cromwell.
Citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the overtures, Yahoo said that the partners and the law firms gave several reasons why they chose not to represent the president, including not having enough time and possible conflicts of interest.
The sources said that the lawyers and firms consistently brought up Trump’s possible reluctance to accept advice or to refrain from making public statements and tweets.
Some even cited his history of not paying people he has hired to do work. “The concerns were, ‘The guy won’t pay and he won’t listen,’” one source, described as “close to the White House,” said. The source also said that firms would “kill recruitment” and jeopardise client relationships should they have chosen to represent Trump.
The sentiment was echoed by another source: “Do I want to be associated with this president and his policies? … Who’s in charge? Would he [Trump] listen?” The sources said that the four firms who rejected the offers are not exhaustive of the firms the White House approached.
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