A former federal prosecutor on Monday took stock of President Donald Trump’s current legal team and concluded that the president is in big trouble if he decides to conduct an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller.

Reacting to a New York Times report that attorney Jay Sekulow is the only lawyer working as Trump’s personal attorney on the special counsel’s investigation, ex-federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti wrote on Monday that the president is treading on increasingly dangerous ground without properly experienced legal counsel to help him prepare for an interview with Mueller and his team.

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“Sekulow has no experience handling federal criminal investigations,” he writes. “Asking him to quarterback the defense to this important investigation would be like asking a neurologist to be your heart surgeon.”

Sekulow also explained that attorney Ty Cobb, who is working on behalf of the White House on the Mueller probe, can’t help Trump prepare for a Mueller interview because “conversations between Trump and Ty Cobb (and other lawyers employed by the White House) can be obtained by Mueller in discovery under existing case law.”

Taken all together, Mariotti said that these latest developments make it more likely that Trump will make a critical mistake in handling the Russia probe.

“This increases the possibility that Trump will mismanage how he responds to the investigation,” he said. “Perhaps he will sit for an interview that most experienced criminal defense attorneys would work hard to avoid.”

Read the whole thread below.

2/ First, conversations between Trump and Ty Cobb (and other lawyers employed by the White House) can be obtained by Mueller in discovery under existing case law. So important strategic issues personal to Trump, like whether to sit for an interview, can’t be discussed with Cobb. — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 26, 2018

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4/ That brings us to the second reason why this matters so much—Sekulow has no experience handling federal criminal investigations. Asking him to quarterback the defense to this important investigation would be like asking a neurologist to be your heart surgeon. — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 26, 2018

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6/ This increases the possibility that Trump will mismanage how he responds to the investigation. Perhaps he will sit for an interview that most experienced criminal defense attorneys would work hard to avoid. /end — Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) March 26, 2018

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