Why federal prosecutors may have handed Trump a huge gift

The Conversation with Dasha Burns

POLITICO

News, Government, Politics

4.0 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 June 2023

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Timothy Parlatore spent over a year working for Donald Trump on a number of legal challenges, including the Department of Justice’s probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 and the investigation of all those documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago. Parlatore was inside the secret grand jury room in Washington. He oversaw the search for documents in Bedminster. He coordinated the former president’s response to Jack Smith’s subpoena for the national security files that eventually landed Trump in so much trouble. And then, in May, after a long-running internal fight with one of Trump’s top aides, Parlatore quit. Since then, you may have seen him on cable TV talking about why he left the Trump team and offering his insights about the case. But he hasn’t sat down for an in-depth interview like the one you’re about to hear. Parlatore came by Politico’s offices in Arlington and spent the afternoon talking to Playbook co-author and Deep Dive host Ryan Lizza about why he became a criminal defense attorney in the first place, the moral dilemmas he’s faced representing people who he knew were guilty. And, most important, what it was like being on the inside of Trump’s legal team as Jack Smith and his prosecutors closed in. Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.Timothy Parlatore is the founder and Managing Partner of Parlatore Law GroupKara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio. Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	What makes someone want to be a criminal defense attorney for Donald Trump?
0:10.5	After all, he has a history of not paying his legal bills.
0:15.8	He famously defies his attorney's advice and turns his legal problems into political
0:21.1	fights, and to put it mildly, he's not always very kind to his former associates and advisors,
0:27.6	including many of his ex-loyers.
0:30.3	But our guest this week took the job anyway.
0:34.6	He grew up in New Jersey, and he worshipped the larger-than-life New York criminal defense
0:39.6	lawyers who were a staple of tabloid papers and cable TV in the 80s and 90s.
0:46.6	People such as Eddie Hayes, the inspiration for Tom Wolf's bonfire of the Vanities, and
0:51.5	Jerry Schargel, a criminal defense lawyer who worked for members of the Gambino Crime
0:56.3	Family.
0:57.3	One of his heroes, and mentors, was Bruce Cutler, who was John Gotti's famous lawyer.
1:03.5	And he gave our guest a piece of advice that helps explain why he was dying to work for
1:09.5	someone like Donald Trump.
1:11.7	He had a philosophy of look for a fight, and if it's a good fight, get in it.
1:17.1	I'm Ryan Liza, this is Playbook Deep Dive.
1:22.8	Timothy Parlatory spent over a year working for Trump on a number of legal challenges,
1:29.0	including the Department of Justice's probe into Trump's role in January 6th, and the
1:33.5	investigation of all those documents stashed at Marlago.
1:39.0	Parlatory was inside the secret grand jury room in Washington.
1:42.9	He oversaw the search for documents in Bedminster.
1:46.0	He coordinated the former president's response to Jack Smith's subpoena for the national security
	...

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