Donald Trump told a crowd at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey that he "doesn't need any help" fighting his numerous legal battles and that he has actively rejected major law firms offering him assistance.
He made the comments on Thursday night, according to Mediaite.
Two of Mr Trump's top lawyers have already resigned from his defence team after the DOJ announced it was bringing 37 charges against the former president for his handling of classified materials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida.
Those attorneys were Jim Trusty and John Rowley. They previously led Mr Trump's legal team in Washington DC.
“I tell all these people, they all come in — they want to help,” Mr Trump said concerning the upcoming 2024 election. “The biggest, some of the biggest people, the biggest law firms, the biggest lawyers, I say, ‘listen, I don’t need any help. I don’t want any help in campaigns.’”
At least two Floridian lawyers — Howard Srebnick and David Markus — declined to take on Mr Trump's case when he reached out, according to The Guardian.
It's not difficult to see why some attorneys may be hesitant to work with the former president; John Eastman, an attorney who helped mastermind a legal strategy to keep Mr Trump in office in 2020, is facing disbarment in California for his efforts.
Mr Eastman's plan centred on using Trump-friendly electors in battleground states to vote against their electorates and on then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the real electors.
He is currently facing 11 disciplinary charges in California's State Bar.
In addition, DOJ prosecution may have previously undisclosed evidence in their case against Mr Trump that could make for a "bad Christmas" for his attorneys, according to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.
Jack Smith, the special counsel bringing the case against Mr Trump, has reportedly begun providing the evidence he plans to use against Mr Trump, according to The Hill.
Mr Whitehouse said that the special counsel's decision to turn over evidence early suggests Mr Smith has a solid case against the former president.
“It tells me that there’s gonna be bad Christmas for the Trump lawyers as they open the different files of evidence and find out how awful the evidence is against their client,” he said. “And it tells me that they want to get Trump’s attention early, by getting his lawyers the evidence that they need to be able to go to their client and say, ‘Hey, you are in real trouble here.'"
