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[Tovarisc]

Marc E. Kasowitz, a New York civil litigator who represented President Trump for 15 years in business and boasts of being called the toughest lawyer on Wall Street, has suddenly become the field marshal for a White House under siege. He is a personal lawyer for the president, not a government employee, but he has been talking about establishing an office in the White House complex where he can run his legal defense.

His visits to the White House have raised questions about the blurry line between public and private interests for a president facing legal issues. Mr. Kasowitz in recent days has advised White House aides to discuss the inquiry into Russia’s interference in last year’s election as little as possible, two people involved said. He told aides gathered in one meeting who had asked whether it was time to hire private lawyers that it was not yet necessary, according to another person with direct knowledge.

Such conversations between a private lawyer for the president and the government employees who work for his client are highly unusual, according to veterans of previous White Houses. Mr. Kasowitz bypassed the White House Counsel’s Office in having these discussions, according to one person familiar with the talks, who like others requested anonymity to discuss internal matters. And concerns about Mr. Kasowitz’s role led at least two prominent Washington lawyers to turn down offers to join the White House staff.

Whether Mr. Kasowitz is having an effect on his client is unclear. He had advised Mr. Trump to ease up on his use of Twitter, and when Mr. Trump’s account was quiet for nearly 48 hours last week around the time of Mr. Comey’s high-profile Senate hearing, some speculated that Mr. Kasowitz was responsible. But Mr. Trump began attacking Mr. Comey’s testimony on Friday morning, and he has defiantly told friends that despite his lawyer’s instructions, he has not changed his behavior.

As for Mr. Kasowitz’s conversations with presidential aides, the White House Counsel’s Office typically supervises such discussions to make sure they understand their rights and do not feel pressured to help a lawyer who does not represent their interests, legal experts said. The counsel’s involvement is all the more critical in this case, they said, because many of the aides — potential witnesses in the government’s inquiry — do not yet have personal lawyers.

Mr. Kasowitz’s advice to administration staff may benefit the president more than the aides themselves, the experts said. The conversations Mr. Kasowitz has with aides could shape their testimony before Mr. Mueller has a chance to interview them, should they be called as witnesses.

Since asserting influence in the White House in recent weeks, Mr. Kasowitz has discussed establishing an office on White House grounds in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where much of the president’s staff works, according to multiple people familiar with the deliberations. Such an arrangement would have Mr. Kasowitz and his team frequently crossing paths with potential witnesses.

Under ethics rules, Mr. Kasowitz could not interview any official who had hired a lawyer without that lawyer’s permission, meaning it would be in his interest if administration aides did not hire their own lawyers, experts said. “It is probably easier for him to represent Trump if he doesn’t have to deal with a bunch of other lawyers,” Ms. Sherburne said, adding that she believed it was inappropriate for Mr. Kasowitz to discourage aides from hiring their own counsel.

Richard Painter, the White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush who now teaches at the University of Minnesota’s law school, said that in a worst-case scenario, a staff member might listen to Mr. Kasowitz’s advice and “end up thrown under the bus.”

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/11/us/politics/trump-lawyer-marc-kasowitz.html

 

[Kimawolf]

Idiots. Never let some guy's private lawyer convince you from hiring your own. His job is protecting Trump above all else.

 

[the_id]

They're all going to be thrown under the bus aren't they?

 

[HStallion]

They're all going to be thrown under the bus aren't they?

The wheels of the bus won't even be touching the ground by the time Trump is done.

 

[Imperfected]

Any of Trump's aides who actually believe this fink went into the wrong line of work, because they had absolutely no future in politics anyway.