Yeomans: Let’s All Root for Trump to Find a Lawyer

Washington, D.C., March 27, 2018  –  In the latest edition of Yeomans Work, AFJ Goldfarb Fellow for Justice Bill Yeomans writes that as respected attorneys decline the offer to join President Trump’s legal team, the more the concern grows about the consequences of the President operating without adequate legal guidance. Therefore, Yeomans maintains, we should all root for Trump to find a good lawyer to join his team — even as Trump critics revel in the spectacle of  his inability to hire one.

A “lawyerless Trump may be far more dangerous” than one with competent representation, Yeomans writes. “Trump threatens the survival of the institutions of our democracy.  Lawyers make those institutions work.  They channel disputes — ranging from payoffs to porn actresses to constitutional battles over separation of powers — through institutions that enforce the rule of law.  Without good lawyers, the forces of chaos that Trump so heartily embraces dominate.”

“Without the constraint imposed by a strong, independent legal voice,” Yeomans notes, “Trump will fight Mueller and the Russia investigation outside the law and in the public arena.” The damage Trump could try to do to the reputations of the FBI, Department of Justice, grand jury, and courts could increase.

What’s needed? Yeomans writes that “a brave, experienced, honest, A-list lawyer” should step up. But he also writes that such a lawyer will never encourage Trump to testify in person before Robert Mueller. Should Trump’s next lawyer give that advice, “we will know that Trump has not obtained the representation he needs.”

Yeomans Work focuses on the challenges to the justice system in the era of Trump. Bill Yeomans is available for media interviews. Contact Laurie Kinney, Communications Director, at laurie@afj.org or 202-464-7367.