National Media Turns to Jim Trusty for Authoritative Opinions on the Country’s Most Important Investigations and Prosecutions

By: Ifrah Law

Ifrah Law partner Jim Trusty has become a staple in the national news lately: he is frequently asked to comment on the many investigations and prosecutions currently going on which involve former and current officials and operatives at the highest levels of government. With over 28 years of experience as a federal prosecutor with the Department of Justice and deep knowledge of white collar criminal law, Jim offers TV audiences both the seasoned perspective of a government insider and clear cut, objective analysis that help viewers fully understand the context and complexities of these historic proceedings.

Commentators turn to Jim to clarify the legal issues in many high profile cases.

• Fox News often asks Jim to explain legal rulings or the twists in some of these controversial matters. Recently Jim explained why the jurors in the trial of Paul Manafort were instructed to refrain from talking to one another during the proceedings, in addition to why the trial had been delayed. He pointed out that trials are not always “well-oiled, well-choreographed machines,” something he knows from his years litigating on both sides of similar criminal complaints; sometimes delays occur which have no significant impact on the trial’s final outcome.

• Jim discussed the relatively short sentence given to former presidential campaign aide George Papadopoulos and what that could mean for the overall Special Counsel investigation into possible foreign meddling in the 2016 election. He talked about the discretion that the FBI and prosecutors have in bringing false statement charges, and that they sometimes use this tactic as a way to extract information about other matters.

• Jim has also commented on the credibility of Michael Cohen, the former presidential attorney who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations, bank fraud and tax evasion in New York federal court. Asked about the possibility of Cohen testifying in the Mueller investigation or other proceedings, Jim observed that this would create “a field day for cross examination” in light of Cohen’s “unprofessional behavior,” which will likely result in his disbarment in addition to criminal sentencing.

• For The Washington Post, Jim gave his opinion on the approach of his friend and former colleague Rod Rosenstein, the Deputy Attorney General of the United States. Jim described Rosenstein’s approach to persistent requests to shut down the Mueller investigation: “I think at some point he made a decision that he would stay within the ethical bounds that he’s in, but he wouldn’t be a punching bag … You see a little steel in the spine every now and then, where he’s just decided, ‘I’m going to keep doing it.’”

Jim has also provided commentary for Fox News on

• The Nunes Memo
• Immigration
• The indictment of Russian nationals
• Trump’s legal jeopardy
• Rudy Guiliani’s conversations with Robert Mueller
• Mueller’s possible questions for the President
• The legal parameters of DOJ investigations.

As a former prosecutor and now defense attorney who has litigated a wide variety of white collar charges, Jim ably puts these dramatic circumstances into context for viewers unacquainted with the inner workings of justice. For his current clients, this understanding of how prosecutors try cases makes Jim highly valuable for developing effective responses to white collar charges ranging from cybersecurity and computer fraud, to money laundering and asset forfeiture.

For seven years, Jim served in the DOJ’s Criminal Division, where he was ultimately responsible for investigating and prosecuting regional, national and international cases. In addition to running the RICO review unit, he also was in charge of establishing and promoting policies focused on immigration reform, firearms trafficking, proposed Congressional testimony for DOJ officials and Internet gambling. Prior to his work at DOJ, Jim acted as Assistant U.S. Attorney in Greenbelt, Maryland, where he investigated and prosecuted white collar and other criminal cases, including the D.C. area Sniper investigation. Jim has been awarded numerous honors over the course of his career including the Attorney General’s Distinguished Service Award, Federal Prosecutor of the Year, Community Prosecuting Award and the Child Abuse Protection Award, to name only a few.

You can follow Jim on Twitter @TrustyLawyer.

Related: White Collar Defense Lawyer