Donald Trump's lead lawyer in Russia probe resigns

Nick Allen

Updated 22 March 2018 at 11:58 am

Donald Trump's lead lawyer for the federal special counsel probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election resigned on Thursday.

John Dowd stepped down after concluding Mr Trump was increasingly ignoring his advice.

Mr Dowd has been the lead lawyer since last summer, when longtime Trump personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz stepped down, but the latest shakeup to the legal team has been rumoured for several days.

Earlier this week, Mr Trump beefed up his legal team with a lawyer who accuses the FBI and US Justice Department of trying to frame Mr Trump with false charges of colluding with Russia during the 2016 election campaign, possibly signaling a more aggressive drive to discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Washington lawyer Joseph diGenova will join the legal team this week, according to attorney Jay Sekulow, who also represents Mr Trump.

Mr Mueller is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 election. Moscow denies any interference and Trump has said there was no collusion.

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Donald Trump's lead lawyer in Russia probe resigns

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