Trump attorney in DOJ Mar-a-Lago documents probe quits

Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Donald Trump, made a major announcement on Wednesday, May 17: He is leaving the former president's legal team.

The attorney has been representing Trump during one of his many legal battles: the U.S. Department of Justice's investigation of government documents he was storing at his Mar-a-Lago compound in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump's critics allege that he violated federal law by storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago; Trump, however, has maintained that the documents were declassified when he left the White House.

Parlatore didn't get into specifics when he made his announcement, telling CNN, "It's been an incredible honor to serve and work through interesting legal issues. My departure was a personal choice and does not reflect upon the case, as I believe strongly the (U.S. Department of Justice) team is engaging in misconduct to pursue an investigation of conduct that is not criminal."

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Parlatore's departure comes at a time when Trump is facing a 34-count criminal prosecution by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr. as well as two investigations by the DOJ and special counsel Jack Smith and one by Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis. But Willis and Smith, unlike Bragg, have yet to decide on any type of indictment.

In addition to DOJ and Smith's Mar-a-Lago documents probe, they are separately investigating Trump's post-2020 election activities and his actions on January 6, 2021.

According to CNN reporters Kaitlan Collins and Paula Reid, "Parlatore recently co-authored a letter to House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner asking Congress to tell the Justice Department to step aside because they believe the intelligence community should conduct the investigation into what happened with the classified documents. The former president's legal team has been rife with infighting for several months as his attorneys have dealt with the multiple investigations facing him amid his third run for office."

Trump, Collins and Reid add, has "privately expressed unhappiness with his large legal bills and asked why the investigations, namely the documents one, have not yet gone away."

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CNN's full report is available at this link.