R. Kelly says he wants to replace half of his legal team two months ahead of trial
CNN
Singer R. Kelly spoke briefly at a court hearing Wednesday, saying he approves of a significant change in his legal team just two months before his federal trial in Brooklyn is set to begin.
Half of his legal team, attorneys Steve Greenberg and Michael Leonard, requested to withdraw from the case with a court filing on Monday evening. Greenberg told CNN Monday he felt that Kelly was "insistent that we work with people who we felt would be rendering in effective assistance as counsel." Leonard told CNN that he and Greenberg were "not comfortable giving responsibility to those who haven't tried a lot of federal criminal jury cases."Elected officials, Jewish advocacy groups and civil rights leaders are vowing to “push back” against the message of a White nationalist group that staged a march last week near downtown Columbus, Ohio, calling the demonstration an act of hate unwelcome in their community – and the United States more broadly.
Senate Democrats have confirmed some of President Joe Biden’s picks for the federal bench this week in the face of President-elect Donald Trump’s calls for a total GOP blockade of judicial nominations – in part because several Republicans involved with the Trump transition process have been missing votes.