Timothy Parlatore, an attorney for Donald Trump who played a key role in the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation and once testified before the grand jury, is leaving the former president’s legal team, two sources familiar with the exit tell CNN.
Parlatore’s departure became official Tuesday, though it had been rumored for several weeks among the former president’s inner circle. The high-profile departure comes as special counsel Jack Smith appears to be in the final stretch of investigations into the possible mishandling of classified documents and efforts to obstruct the 2020 election.
“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 (Justice Department) team is engaging in misconduct to pursue an investigation of conduct that is not criminal,” Parlatore said in a statement to CNN.
Parlatore spoke with Trump regarding his exit as well.
Parlatore’s exit is notable given he was the attorney who organized searches for additional classified documents last year at Trump Tower, Trump’s properties in Bedminster, Mar-a-Lago, an office in Palm Beach and a Florida storage unit.
He also testified before the grand jury as Trump’s team and the Justice Department were embroiled in a dispute in which the Justice Department unsuccessfully sought to hold Trump in contempt for failing to hand over all classified documents after receiving a subpoena in May 2022.
Parlatore appeared before the grand jury for roughly seven hours in December.
“They repeatedly tried to ask me about my conversations with President Trump, which is totally outside the scope of what I was there for,” Parlatore said in March.
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 has privately expressed unhappiness with his large legal bills and asked why the investigations, namely the documents one, have not yet gone away.
In a town hall with CNN last week, Trump misrepresented the Presidential Records Act and asserted he was “allowed” to take documents when he left office.
“When we left Washington, we had the boxes lined up on the sidewalk outside for everybody,” Trump said. “People are taking pictures of them. Everybody knew we were taking those boxes.”
When asked if he had ever shown classified documents to anyone after leaving the White House, he said, “Not really. … Not — not that I can think of.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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