Jim Trusty appears on CNN Thursday, June 8, 2023.
In a motion to withdraw from representing the former president in Trump v. CNN, a defamation lawsuit over the network's comparisons of Donald Trump to Adolf Hitler, attorney Jim Trusty cited "irreconcilable differences" as the cause of their recent high-profile split.
Trusty resigned last Friday, just a matter of hours after he appeared on CNN and revealed 37 felony charges — 31 of them under the Espionage Act — against his client in Special Counsel Jack Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents probe, without providing an explanation or any certainty as to which attorneys would represent Trump at his Mar-a-Lago arraignment.
A week later, Trusty has hinted at, without specifying, the root cause of the attorney-client divorce:
The undersigned counsel, James M. Trusty of Ifrah Law PLLC, as counsel of record ("Counsel") for Donald J. Trump ("Plaintiff"), respectfully requests leave of this Court to permit him to withdraw as attorney of record for Plaintiff. Counsel has informed Plaintiff of his intent to withdraw from representation. Counsel also has informed counsel of record for the defendant in this matter, Cable News Network, Inc. ("Defendant") of his intent to withdraw.
Mr. Trusty's withdrawal is based upon irreconcilable differences between Counsel and Plaintiff and Counsel can no longer effectively and properly represent Plaintiff. Mr. Trusty's withdrawal at this time does not adversely impact any parties to this matter: oral argument on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss has not been scheduled, discovery has not begun, and there are no pending deadlines. Further, Plaintiff continues to be served by co-counsel on the matter, Lindsey Halligan, a member of the Florida Bar.
Based upon these facts, Counsel requests to be withdrawn as attorney of record for Donald J. Trump.
U.S. District Judge Anuraang H. Singhal, a Trump appointee, granted Trusty's in a docket order hours later.
It stands to reason that if Trusty has "irreconcilable differences" that prevent him from representing Trump against CNN, those same differences — whatever they might be — explain his ostensible self-ouster from the task of rescuing Trump from serious legal peril.
"This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation," Trusty said last week, also announcing the resignation of attorney John Rowley. "It has been an honor to have spent the last year defending him, and we know he will be vindicated in his battle against the Biden Administration's partisan weaponization of the American justice system."
The lawyers had claimed it was "a logical moment" to resign. Trusty's latest court filing indicates that there was more than timing to the decision.
Law&Crime reached out to Trusty for comment.
He said in response several hours later that "irreconcilable differences" is "standard language in withdrawing from a case," and that "there is nothing negative or exciting to read into the use of this common phrase."
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