Known for his litigiousness, President Donald Trump has already threatened to sue organizations he disagrees with in court -- but according to sources familiar with White House scandals, his staff might be the ones who need lawyers.
According to sources interviewed by POLITICO, staffers in the Trump White House may need their own counsel to protect against prosecution should legal scandal come to Pennsylvania Ave.
Former FBI agent Lewis Schiliro, a bureau veteran who headed New York's field office, told POLITICO that White House staffers involved in any potential wrongdoing are most at risk.
“If they have information that indicates contact with Russians or attempts to interfere they better damn well,” Schiliro told POLITICO. “That’s a pretty serious thing.”
NY state Rep. Sean Maloney (D), who served as staff secretary for former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment proceedings and former NY Gov. Eliot Spitzer when his prostitution scandal broke open, said that staffers can be implicated in small, simple ways.
"We’re all human beings. If someone asks you questions for two or three hours it’s easy to make a mistake," Maloney said, referring, most likely, to staffers interrogated about their superiors' wrongdoing during government inquiries.
Robert Luskin, a D.C. attorney who represented Karl Rove, said there's "obviously a risk" because Trump "doesn’t seem to be very sensitive about norms and about risks".
"I have to say compared to the Clinton years that this is a walk in a f*cking park," Luskin said of the current climate regarding Trump's friendly Republican Congress.