Why federal prosecutors may have handed Trump a huge gift

Timothy Parlatore spent over a year working for Donald Trump on a number of legal challenges, including the Department of Justice’s probe into Trump’s role in Jan. 6 and the investigation of all those documents stashed at Mar-a-Lago. Parlatore was inside the secret grand jury room in Washington. He oversaw the search for documents in Bedminster. He coordinated the former president’s response to Jack Smith’s subpoena for the national security files that eventually landed Trump in so much trouble. And then, in May, after a long-running internal fight with one of Trump’s top aides, Parlatore quit. Since then, you may have seen him on cable TV talking about why he left the Trump team and offering his insights about the case. But he hasn’t sat down for an in-depth interview like the one you’re about to hear. Parlatore came by Politico’s offices in Arlington and spent the afternoon talking to Playbook co-author and Deep Dive host Ryan Lizza about why he became a criminal defense attorney in the first place, the moral dilemmas he’s faced representing people who he knew were guilty. And, most important, what it was like being on the inside of Trump’s legal team as Jack Smith and his prosecutors closed in. Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.Timothy Parlatore is the founder and Managing Partner of Parlatore Law GroupKara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio. Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.