A lawyer whose costs associated with the case are reportedly being paid at least in substantial part by a Trump political action committee has parted ways with several individuals identified as witnesses in the classified documents investigation that Special Counsel Jack Smith took over. That investigation already resulted in criminal charges against three individuals, including former President Donald Trump himself.
Breaking with the Trump-tied lawyer could point to the further enshrining of cooperation by these witnesses with the government, though the context for such could be limited to trial, since the grand jury investigation in this specific matter of the documents appears to be over.
This lawyer, John Irving, presently represents one of the co-defendants in the case, Carlos De Oliveira. The feds raised concerns about the potential for a conflict of interest arising from the clash between that work and Irving’s now former representation of those three witnesses, who the government indicated they may seek to summon for testimony at the eventual trial. All three already provided details that helped incriminate De Oliveira, it’s been reported, though their identities have not been publicly confirmed.
Irving revealed he was no longer representing those individuals, who include at least one Trump employee, in a court filing questioning the government’s push for further consideration of the potential conflicts in court.
“To be clear, undersigned counsel is unaware of any confidential information he obtained from any of those potential witnesses that could be used to cross-examine them, as it appears clear that they provided the same information to the Government,” the lawyer said. “Even if such information existed, any potential prejudice to Mr. De Oliveira can be easily avoided by having Mr. De Oliveira’s Florida counsel, Donnie Murrell, cross-examine those witnesses. Further, undersigned counsel no longer represents those three individuals, and new independent counsel is being made available to advise them going forward.”
The idea was that Irving’s expected obligations to protect the interests of his clients could create a problem if his clients ended up effectively on opposite sides of the case. Notably, support for legal fees that traces back to a Trump organization isn’t actually a given among Trump’s various co-defendants. Formerly pro-Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, who was charged alongside Trump in Georgia, has revealed and questioned the lack of support.
