Two of former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers who had represented him in the classified documents investigation resigned from their legal team the day after he was indicted, according to a statement they released Friday.
The lawyers, James Trusty and John Rowley, left the defense team for Mr. Trump in a state of chaos and confusion as he faced the most serious legal threat of his career: a 37-count indictment filed in Miami accusing him of illegally withholding documents after he left office on some of the the country’s most sensitive national security secrets and of engaging in a conspiracy with an aide to obstruct the government’s repeated efforts to recover them.
Mr. Trump announced the departure of Mr. Trusty and Mr. Rowley in a post Friday on his social media platform, Truth Social. He said he would be represented by a new attorney, Todd Blanche.
“I want to thank Jim Trusty and John Rowley for their work, but they faced a very dishonest, corrupt, evil and ‘sick’ group of people, the likes of which had never been seen before,” the former president wrote. . “We will be announcing additional attorneys in the coming days.”
In a joint statement issued shortly after the publication of Mr. Trump, Mr. Trusty and Mr. Rowley wrote that they had submitted their resignations. “It has been an honor to have spent the last year defending him,” they wrote, “and we know he will be vindicated.”
Their departures came a month after the resignation of a third lawyer on Mr. Trump, Timothy Parlatore. Days after he stopped representing the former president, Mr. Parlatore appeared on CNN to complain about how another lawyer close to Mr. Trump, Boris Epshteyn, had created a conflict in the legal team.
Mr Blanche will accompany Mr Trump to his appearance in Miami on Tuesday. It is not clear whether other lawyers will also be with them. Trump is expected to begin interviewing new lawyers in Florida on Monday, according to a person with knowledge of the plans who was not authorized to speak.
As recently as Thursday night, less than two hours after the former president’s legal team was informed of his indictment, Mr. Trusty was on CNN defending Mr. Trump and making the case against him.
Mr. Trusty and Mr. Rowley were two of three attorneys who attended a meeting with Justice Department officials, including special counsel Jack Smith, three days before the indictment.
Two people familiar with the matter said Mr. Trusty and Mr. Rowley had repeatedly complained about working with Mr. Epstein. One of the people with direct knowledge of the events said that this was partly the reason for the departures. The person said that Mr. Trusty and Mr. Rowley were still on good terms with Mr. trump
But several Trump lawyers have complained in the past that Mr. Epshteyn only gave the former president positive news and avoided bringing him bad news.
Mr. Blanche, who also represents Mr. Trump in the case against him in Manhattan state court, representing both the former president and Mr. Epstein.
In his statement, Mr. Trusty and Mr. Rowley said the case’s move to Florida made it “a logical time for us to stand aside and let others take cases to completion.”
They added: “We have no plans to make media appearances addressing our withdrawals or any other confidential communications we have had with the president or his legal team.”
Mr. Parlatore, on the other hand, directly blamed Mr. Epshteyn to CNN after leaving the team.
An assistant of Mr. Trump, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly, insisted that the suggestion that the departures were due to internal dynamics was “ridiculous.”
Appearing on CNN Friday after the indictment broke, Mr. Parlatore said of the departure of Mr. Rowley and Mr. Trusty: “Look, it’s surprising and at the same time not surprising. It’s a difficult situation to be in.” As he spoke, he made it clear that he meant working with Mr. Epstein.
Mr. Parlatore also acknowledged the seriousness of several of the charges in the indictment, particularly the allegations that the documents that Mr. Trump said they could harm national security.
“This is serious stuff,” said Mr. talker
The lawyers’ departures came at a time of grave legal vulnerability for Mr. Trump and emphasized how his many legal teams over the years have been riddled with factionalism and turnover.
When Mr. Trump was investigated by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III for possible collusion between his 2016 presidential campaign and Russian officials, his legal team shuffled around a few times.
The second time he was impeached, in January 2021, for inciting his supporters on Capitol Hill as he tried to stay in power after the 2020 election, Mr. Trump again struggled to attract lawyers. Once he did, some of them fought each other.
