Trump attorney Tim Parlatore leaving legal team

Washington — Timothy Parlatore, a top lawyer representing Donald Trump, is leaving the former president's legal team, he confirmed to CBS News.

Parlatore was among the key attorneys working for Trump on the Justice Department's ongoing investigations involving the former president, including his handling of sensitive government documents that were found at his South Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago.

Special counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland in November to oversee the matters involving Trump, is also investigating whether anyone unlawfully interfered with the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 presidential election.

CNN first reported that Parlatore is leaving Trump's legal team.

Parlatore confirmed to CBS News in March that he testified before a federal grand jury in Washington in December as part of Smith's probe into the documents marked classified that were found at Mar-a-Lago after the end of Trump's presidency. He said then that he was questioned about the search for more government records at Trump's other properties by the former president's team that yielded a handful of records.

Parlatore said in a statement he "voluntarily and happily" chose to testify before the grand jury and said that during his appearance, it was "clear that the government was not acting appropriately and made several improper attempts to pierce privilege and, in my opinion, made several significant misstatements to the jury which I believe constitutes prosecutorial misconduct."

He told CBS News on Wednesday that he still believes "very strongly" that what the Department of Justice is doing is "wrong." 

Parlatore was also among the lawyers who sent a letter to Congress asking it to tell the Justice department to "stand down" on the documents probe. In the letter, Trump's legal team suggested the former president's departure from the White House after the election was hastily conducted and staff "simply swept all documents from the President's desk and other areas into boxes" that were then moved to Florida.

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