Jim Trusty, the attorney who one week ago withdrew from Donald Trump's documents case, pulled out of the former president's defamation suit against CNN, citing "irreconcilable differences" between his client and himself.
Trusty on Friday submitted a three-page filing with the U.S. District Court of Southern Florida, stating stated that his withdrawal was "based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff," according to the New York Post.
In October, Trump and his legal team filed a $475 million lawsuit against CNN for defamation, claiming that the cable news network had escalated "a campaign of libel and slander" against him, based on a fear that he would seek reelection in 2024.
The lawsuit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, stated, "CNN has tried to taint the Plaintiff with a series of ever-more scandalous, false, and defamatory labels of 'racist,' 'Russian lackey,' 'insurrectionist,' and ultimately '[Adolf] Hitler.'" CNN has moved to dismiss the suit.
Trusty and attorney John Rowley quit Trump's legal team on June 9, after Trump was indicted on 37 counts related to the mishandling of classified documents that he kept at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. Trump pleaded not guilty to all counts while appearing in a Miami federal court on Tuesday.
"This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation," Trusty and Rowley wrote in a joint statement June 9.
Saying that "it has been an honor" defending the former president over the past year, Trusty and Rowley wrote that the indictment in Miami was "a logical moment for us to step aside and let others carry the cases through to completion."
The two lawyers added that neither intend to speak publicly about why they were resigning or about any private conversations they shared with Trump and his legal team.
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