President Donald J. Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and other key members of the Trump legal team will abstain from attending Friday's meeting with two Michigan lawmakers because they've been exposed to the coronavirus, two sources familiar with the internal discussions told Axios in a scoop Friday.
This development is the latest in a lopsided laundry list of turmoil inside the president's flailing legal operation challenging the democratic electoral process that declared President-elect Joe Biden the clear winner of the election.
"It's just a sh*tshow, it's a joke," said a Trump campaign adviser.
In a conference call Friday morning with Eric Herschmann, a lawyer on the White House staff, the Trump campaign "candidly discussed their legal conundrum." According to the Axios report, officials on the call included campaign manager Bill Stepien and advisers Jason Miller, Justin Clark, Matt Morgan, Tim Murtaugh and Boris Epshteyn, as well as Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis.
Herschmann told Trump campaign officials that the counsel's office would not be represented, but that somebody needed to brief the president about the legal situation.
During the call, it was revealed by one of the participants that Andrew Giuliani, a White House staffer and son of Rudy, has tested positive for the virus. One of the attendees voiced concern over Rudy Giuliani attending the White House meeting "because he'd surely been exposed to his son. Then Ellis, a Giuliani sidekick, said if that was the case then the entire Giuliani-affiliated legal team was probably exposed," the sources said.
And for valid reasons. Axios reported that "Trump's campaign lawyers have been holed up for days in a conference room at Trump campaign headquarters in Arlingon, Va. -- and Andrew had been around all of them. He even confirmed the news on Twitter.
This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19. I am experiencing mild symptoms, and am following all appropriate pro… https://t.co/J5NefVGNuD— Andrew H. Giuliani (@Andrew H. Giuliani) 1605886792.0
