TRUMP LAWYER DOWD RESIGNS

John Dowd resigned as Donald Trump’s lead lawyer against special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation as the President’s impatience grows over the intensifying inquiry into possible state collusion in the 2016 election.

His decision came after Mr Trump decided to add a new lawyer, Joseph diGenova, to his legal team. A frequent guest on Fox News, Mr diGenova has publicly attacked Mr Mueller’s investigation and the FBI, saying he believes Mr Trump was framed by Justice Department officials on a political vendetta.

Mr diGenova’s remarks put him at odds with the posture of co-operation and deference Mr Trump’s lawyers have publicly taken toward Mr Mueller and his hiring could signal a more confrontational approach.

When Mr Trump was asked yesterday whether he still wants to testify to Mr Mueller, he said: “Yes, I would like to.”

But the president has been impatient for Mr Mueller’s investigation to come to a close and the loss of Mr Dowd may only drag out the process. Mr Dowd had acted as the team’s chief contact in dealing with Mr Mueller and has spent months carefully negotiating terms of an interview between the special counsel and Mr Trump.

Mr Dowd was deeply versed in the case, including the tens of thousands of pages of documents that had been handed over to Mr Mueller.

Mr diGenova is coming in late to an effort that has been going on since the summer. He also could find himself at odds with Mr Trump’s other lawyers, who have set a tone of co-operation with Mr Mueller.