After prosecutors questioned potential conflicts among the lawyers, one key witness in the classified documents case, Yuscil Taveras, replaced his lawyer, who was being paid by Mr. Trump’s PAC and also represented one of the former president’s co-defendants in the case, Walt Nauta. Mr. Taveras is now represented by a federal public defender and is cooperating with prosecutors.
The federal judge in the documents case, Aileen M. Cannon, has scheduled hearings for next month to consider questions about potential conflicts involving lawyers for Mr. Nauta and for Mr. Trump’s other co-defendant, Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager at Mar-a-Lago.
A look at the how the arrangement came about, and how it has come under growing pressure, says a lot about Mr. Trump’s approach to legal and financial issues and his calculations about loyalty.
A spokesman for Mr. Trump did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The question of providing lawyers first came up as Trump aides and allies were summoned as witnesses nearly two years ago by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. Mr. Trump initially suggested a tight cordon of coordination, telling his aides that he wanted all of the witnesses to share one lawyer. That idea was rejected by his advisers, according to a person with knowledge of what took place.
But the effort to encourage legal coordination expanded considerably as Mr. Trump came under criminal investigation in four cases, two federal and one each in Georgia and Manhattan, drawing in a growing roster of people with ties to him.
