By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
Donald Trump’s lead lawyer for the special counsel investigation resigned Thursday, just days after the president escalated his high-stakes campaign to discredit federal investigators and called for an end to the 10-month probe.
Dowd had become increasingly frustrated with the president for ignoring his legal advice and had considered leaving for several months, the New York Times and other media outlets reported.
Until this weekend, the president had heeded his legal team’s advice to refrain from criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller. But a day after the controversial firing of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Friday, Trump unleashed a series of hyperbolic, misleading and inflammatory tweets, some of which for the first time took aim at Mueller and his investigation.
In a written statement to the media, Dowd did not indicate why he left.
“I love the President and I wish him well,” Dowd said in a written statement.
Trump, who has discounted recent reports of turbulence in his legal team as “fake news,” added conspiracy theorist and longtime Washington D.C. lawyer Joseph diGenova to his legal team.
“John Dowd is a friend and has been a valuable member of our legal team,” Sekulow said in a statement to The Hill. “We will continue our ongoing representation of the president and our cooperation with the office of the special counsel.”
