Trump Turned Down Top Lawyer During Russia Investigation Because He Wasn’t ‘Bombastic’ Enough: Book

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Former President Donald Trump declined the services of a top attorney during the Russian collusion investigation because he was not “bombastic” enough, a new book claims.

Servants of the Damned: Giant Law Firms, Donald Trump, and the Corruption of Justice was authored by New York Times reporter David Enrich. The book will be available on Sept. 20.

The Guardian obtained a copy of it and shared one claim that is particularly interesting, given Trump’s recent struggles with adequate legal representation.

Enrich claims in the book the former president decided against hiring attorney Stephen Brogan of the international firm Jones Day.

The Guardian’s Martin Pengelly reported:

[Jones Day partner Donald McGahn], Enrich writes, thought Trump should have “his own, competent counsel” to deal with investigations of Russian election interference and links between Trump and Moscow, and Trump’s firing of the FBI director James Comey.

That, Enrich says, led to Trump having at least two Oval Office meetings with Stephen Brogan, managing partner of Jones Day.

Enrich reports that some at Jones Day thought such a deal would tie the firm too closely to Trump as his presidency pitched into controversy and chaos. Brogan was advised to pull back but pushed to land the client.

Trump ultimately chose attorney John Dowd over Brogan.

“The feeling among some senior Jones Day partners was that Trump wanted someone a bit more bombastic than Brogan as his defender-in-chief,” Enrich writes.

Dowd resigned as Trump’s lead attorney in 2018. A report from Politico claimed he had grown “frustrated” during his time defending Trump during Robert Mueller’s probe into alleged 2016 election meddling.

Trump, who is currently being investigated for allegedly taking classified documents from the White House, has found difficulty finding people widely viewed as competent attorneys.