Exclusive: Spurned by top lawyers, Trump's defense elevates Washington outsider

[DonViejo]

MARCH 27, 2018 / 10:43 PM / UPDATED 13 HOURS AGO

(Reuters) - A little-known former prosecutor with a doctorate in medieval history will play a central role on U.S. President Donald Trump’s legal team, as many top-tier lawyers shy away from representing him in a probe into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election.

Andrew Ekonomou, 69, is one of a handful of lawyers assisting Jay Sekulow, the main attorney representing Trump in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Sekulow told Reuters on Tuesday that after the departure of Washington attorney John Dowd from Trump’s personal legal team last week, Ekonomou will assume a more prominent role. Ekonomou said he has been working with Sekulow on the Mueller probe since June.

The elevation comes at a crucial time in the Mueller probe, as Trump’s team is negotiating the terms under which the president himself may be interviewed. Sekulow is now the last man standing of a trio of personal lawyers hired last spring to assist Trump on the probe. Combative New York lawyer Marc Kasowitz exited the team last summer.

Sekulow said Ekonomou, who works under contract as an assistant district attorney in Brunswick, Georgia, was a “brilliant strategist” who has handled complex investigations for decades. Ekonomou assisted Sekulow in a famous case involving the religious group Jews for Jesus before the Supreme Court in the 1980s.

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-lawyer/exclusive-spurned-by-top-lawyers-trumps-defense-elevates-washington-outsider-idUSKBN1H409J

[Demsrule86]

1. Trump picks the stars...for sure haha.

[rainin]

2. If he's been there since June, he can't be that brilliant. n/t

[Gothmog]

3. No one has heard of this lawyer for some good reasons

[procon]

4. He's brilliant strategist from a little backwater town of 15,383 people?

Um, no, he isn't. He "works under contract as an assistant district attorney", meaning he only works part time on the few occasions when the DA is swamped by criminal cases in his teeny, tiny, little village. If this is the best of the best, Trump should start packing his bags for a long stay in Club Fed.