John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Lead Lawyer in Russia Probe

John Dowd, President Donald Trump’s head lawyer in the special counsel’s investigation, confirmed to NBC News that he has resigned.”I love the president and wish him very well,” Dowd said. Lawmakers Release Huge Budget; Big Military, Domestic Boosts Dowd’s resignation, first reported by the New York Times, comes after he called for an end to the special counsel’s investigation. He said Saturday that he hoped it would conclude “on the merits in light of recent revelations,” referring to the firing of former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe the day before.”I pray that Acting Attorney General Rosenstein will follow the brilliant and courageous example of the FBI Office of Professional Responsibility and Attorney General Jeff Sessions and bring an end to alleged Russia Collusion investigation manufactured by McCabe’s boss James Comey based upon a fraudulent and corrupt Dossier,” John Dowd told NBC News. Tempest Over Trump-Putin Call Turns Into Uproar Over Leaks Dowd asserted then he didn’t mean to suggest special counsel Robert Mueller be fired but that the decision to end the probe be based “on the merits.”It’s already a delicate time in Mueller’s investigation, as Trump’s attorneys have been negotiating with Mueller over the scope and terms of an interview of the president. Trump has told reporters that he was eager to speak with Mueller, including again on Thursday when he said he “would like to” do so. But Dowd has been far more apprehensive, and the lawyers have not publicly committed to making the president available for questioning. Saccone Concedes Pennsylvania US House Race to Lamb Dowd’s move seems to be in contrast with a tweet from the president last week, in which Trump declared he was “VERY happy” with his lawyers, responding to a report from the “Failing News York Times” that the president was considering adding to his legal team.But Trump did add a new lawyer to his team just three days ago — former U.S. attorney Joseph diGenova, who has suggested that FBI officials were part of a “brazen plot” to exonerate Hillary Clinton and frame Trump.In a January interview on Fox News, diGenova said that anti-Trump text messages exchanged between two FBI officials who were once on Mueller’s team reflect a “brazen plot to illegally exonerate Hillary Clinton, and if she didn’t win the election, to then frame Donald Trump with a falsely created crime.”Everything that we have seen from these texts, and from all of the facts developing, shows that the FBI and senior (Justice Department) officials conspired to violate the law and to deny Donald Trump his civil rights,” he added.Another Trump lawyer, Jay Sekulow, responded to Dowd’s resignation, saying in a statement to NBC News, “John Dowd is a friend and has been a valuable member of our legal team. We will continue our ongoing representation of the President and our cooperation with the Office of Special Counsel.”This is at least the second major reshuffling of Trump’s legal team in the last year. Dowd had taken over the lead lawyer role last summer from New York attorney Marc Kasowitz, who has long been by Trump’s side.The Associated Press contributed to this report.Photo Credit: Getty Images, File
Source: NBC San Diego