The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Two ex-Trump lawyers point to peril

Timothy Parlatore and Ty Cobb reinforced the dissension and alienation that have plagued Trump’s legal effort for years

Analysis by
Staff writer
May 22, 2023 at 11:59 a.m. EDT
Former president Donald Trump boards his plane on April 27 in Manchester, N.H. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
5 min

Donald Trump is running for president with a series of low-hanging legal clouds looming over him. It probably doesn’t help that two of his former lawyers have pointed to the dissension, alienation and alleged missteps that have plagued his legal effort for years.

Speaking to CNN on Saturday, attorney Timothy Parlatore, who recently left the Trump legal team, blamed infighting and one fellow lawyer in particular for his departure. And he seemed to warn of the problems that that lawyer, Boris Epshteyn, is creating for Trump’s defense. Meanwhile, former top Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb went so far as to predict that Trump “will go to jail” in the classified-documents case, while also citing the Trump team’s poor handling of it.