Donald Trump’s outside counsel is targeting James Comey’s credibility. But the only person whose credibility he’s hurting right now is his own.<\/b>
\nGiven the seriousness of the Russia scandal, Donald Trump had little choice but to hire outside legal representation, but that wasn\u2019 t exactly an easy task. Yahoo News reported this week that top attorneys with \u201cat least four major law firms rebuffed White House overtures\u201d to represent the president \u2013 some because Trump has a habit of not paying his bills, while others feared their client would ignore their legal advice.
The result left Trump with Marc Kasowitz, a civil litigator with no background in constitutional cases, who represented the president in a variety of lawsuits, including the fraud allegations surrounding Trump University.
Kasowitz\u2019s intentions come against a backdrop in which the president himself said via Twitter this morning, \u201cWOW, Comey is a leaker!\u201d
This is all a bit silly.
While we\u2019 re not generally accustomed to hearing prominent public figures talk openly about sharing behind-the-scenes information with the press, Comey\u2019s acknowledgement yesterday that he shared a memo with a friend, who in turn shared it with a reporter, is not scandalous. After all, at the time, Comey was a private citizen, sharing an unclassified memo he wrote.
Sharing highly sensitive, classified intelligence with Russia in a private meeting is problematic. Comey\u2019s \u201cleak\u201d was not.
Indeed, Kasowitz\u2019s plan to go after Comey by way of the Justice Department\u2019s Inspector General\u2019s office is itself more troubling than Comey\u2019s actions. First, the IG\u2019s office isn\u2019 t equipped to launch investigations into private citizens. And second, as Richard Painter, the top ethics lawyer in the Bush\/Cheney administration, noted this morning, trying to get the Justice Department to target a material witness \u2013 in this case, the former director of the FBI \u2013 only adds to the concerns about Team Trump trying to obstruct justice.
Norm Eisen, the top ethics lawyer in the Obama administration, added that Kasowitz\u2019s plan represents an \u201cabuse of power\u201d for which there may be \u201cserious consequences.\u201d
I can appreciate Kasowitz\u2019s broader strategy. Much of the legal controversy surrounding Trump \u2013 including whether he obstructed justice \u2013 relates to Comey and the conversations he had with the president. It stands to reason Trump\u2019s outside counsel would take steps to undermine the former FBI director\u2019s credibility.
But whether Kasowitz realizes it or not, the only person whose credibility he\u2019s hurting right now is his own.<\/p>\n

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