Trump lawyer withdraws from documents case after becoming a potential witness

A main attorney defending former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents case has now recused himself after becoming a potential witness.

The Washington Post reports that attorney Evan Corcoran, who recently was forced to testify by special counsel Jack Smith about conversations he'd had with Trump about the documents, is no longer representing the former president in this particular matter.

Corcoran testified after a judge found that there was enough evidence to suggest that Trump's conversations with Corcoran were in the furtherance of a crime, which allowed Smith's team to pierce the attorney-client privilege shield that normally protects lawyers from having to testify about their own clients.

The Post notes that "legal ethics rules — including those in Maryland and D.C. — generally bar attorneys from acting as advocates at trial when they are likely to be an essential witness" in order to "prevent conflicts of interest between the attorney and client, as well as to avoid putting the other party and the judge at a disadvantage by confusing whether the attorney is speaking to facts based on their personal knowledge — or commenting on evidence given by others."

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Corcoran is still representing Trump in other matters, including Smith's separate investigation into Trump's efforts to illegally remain in power after losing the 2020 presidential election.