Then-President Donald Trump waves as he leaves a rally at Tucson International Airport in October 2020. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)
AFP via Getty Images
An attorney defending Donald Trump in the copyright-infringement suit brought by singer Eddy Grant asked the judge to allow his firm to withdraw as counsel on Monday.
In September 2020, Grant sued Trump and his campaign, alleging a tweet from the then-president that included a video of the 1983 hit “Electric Avenue” allowed him to benefit politically and financially from Grant’s work. Within weeks, Kenneth Caruso of Mukasey Frenchman LLP informed the Southern District of New York that he would be representing Trump and the campaign.
Now, with the case in discovery, Caruso wants out. He filed a motion in the Southern District of New York this week asking to be relieved as counsel. In an accompanying declaration that explained the request, Caruso wrote that his firm’s services are no longer needed and that it is not seeking a lien against Trump.
His work on the case seemed to have slowed down recently. The Make America Great Again PAC, which arose out of Trump’s presidential campaign, paid Caruso’s law firm $103,000 since September 2020, just $8,200 of which came in 2022, according to the most-recent campaign finance records. No other political committees have reported paying the firm.
Darren Saunders of Peroff Saunders P.C., who joined Trump’s defense team a couple months after the suit was filed, will continue to represent him.
Caruso and spokespeople for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Caruso’s filing was first reported by Reuters.
If the motion is granted, Caruso would be at least the second attorney to dump a Trump as a client in the past year. Last September, a lawyer quit who was representing Eric Trump in the New York Attorney General’s investigation into potential fraud at the Trump Organization.