Trump shakes up personal legal team

Questions Russia probe’s scope, staff’s political leanings

USA TODAY

In a dramatic shakeup of President Donald Trump’s personal legal team, chief counsel Marc Kasowitz stepped aside after the president expressed deep concern for the expanded scope of the special Justice Department inquiry into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.

Prominent Washington criminal lawyer John Dowd said Friday that Kasowitz, Trump’s longtime and mercurial personal attorney, will remain as an adviser to the team. Dowd is now heading the team with assistance from frequent Trump defender Jay Sekulow.

“We decided to go in a different direction,” Dowd told USA TODAY. “Marc will still be advising us.”

The move comes as the president earlier this week injected yet more chaos into his young administration, warning special counsel Robert Mueller — who is heading the FBI’s Russia investigation — that the financial activities of the Trump family were outside the scope of the inquiry.

Mueller has signaled — with the addition of money laundering and financial fraud experts to his staff — that his inquiry will likely include a deep exploration of the Trump family’s financial ties to Russia.

Trump and his legal team have long sent warning shots to Mueller, challenging the scope of his authority and questioning the political leanings of his staff even while saying they have had no indication the special counsel is investigating the president.

Mueller has been investigating whether the president obstructed justice in connection with Comey’s firing, which Trump said was related to the director’s handling of the Russia investigation.

On Friday, Dowd defended the president’s position, saying he also believed an investigation of the Trump family finances would be outside the scope of Mueller’s authority.

“The president is concerned,” he said. “He has a right to express himself. I don’t think (Mueller) should go there.”

And Dowd denied reports that the president and his advisers were exploring Trump’s authority to grant pardons to his family — and possibly himself — related to the Russia investigation. The development was first reported late Thursday by The Washington Post.