Outside the Beltway

Photo by SLT

Toensing and diGenova will not Join Trump Legal Team

So, not conspiracy theory lawyer after all.

Steven L. Taylor
24

Comments

Via the NYT:  Trump Won’t Hire 2 Lawyers Whose Appointments Were Announced Days Ago

President Trump has decided not to hire two lawyers who were announced last week as new additions to his legal team, leaving him with a shrinking stable of lawyers as the investigation by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, enters an intense phase.

“The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement on Sunday morning. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.”

Meanwhile, John Dowd’s exit from the team remains in place, so Trump’s legal team remains smaller than it was, at least for the moment.

Categories

Tags

24 responses to “Toensing and diGenova will not Join Trump Legal Team”

  1. OzarkHillbilly Avatar
    OzarkHillbilly

    “The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,”

    Yes, their insistence that he STFU and let *them do the talking* from now on probably was a big conflict.

    **taking note that I’m not sure their mouths would be any better than his but at least there would be some legal protections allowed for.

    4
  2. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    I had read that Trump wanted to hire diGenova principally to flak for him on tv, not to do actual legal work. Given that diGenova has done that, and presumably will continue to carry water for Trump, what’s changed? DiGenova will continue to spout conspiracy theories on Trump’s behalf.

    5
  3. michael reynolds Avatar
    michael reynolds

    Reading between the lines, DiGenova with his wife and Trump? What does DiGenova do the first time Trump screams at Victoria? How do you work with your wife in an atmosphere of toxic male abuse? What kind of husband would support his wife going to work for that pig? What kind of a woman would even consider the offer to begin with?

    Trump is failing so spectacularly he can’t even hire decent lawyers. Ted Olsen? Hah hah hah hah hah. Right. DiGenova and Toensing were the bottom of the barrel, and now even the dregs are saying, “Mmmmmm, no.” Soon Trump will be down to lawyers he sees on billboards. “Have you been charged with conspiracy, money laundering and treason? Call 888. . .”

    8
  4. Mark Ivey Avatar
    Mark Ivey

    Why hire and agree to pay DiGenova when he’s willing to keep fronting on Fox for Trump for free?

    6
  5. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @michael reynolds:

    Trump tweeted this morning that we should not believe the FAKE news narrative that no halfway decent lawyer wants to work with him. He claims that “many, many” great attys are dying to join his team.

    The reason they haven’t? Well, because it would take them “months” to get up to speed, and that would be unfair to the American public.

    I can’t stop laughing.

    14
  6. Mark Ivey Avatar
    Mark Ivey

    Michael Reynolds! I got just the new legal Powerhouse for the President:

    “Lindsay Lohan is the new spokesperson for Lawyer.com”
    http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lindsay_lohan_is_the_new_spokeswoman_for_lawyer.com

    2
  7. michael reynolds Avatar
    michael reynolds

    @CSK:
    Amazingly Stormy Daniels was able to hire one hell of a lawyer. Avenatti is running rings around Trump’s legal team. And this is the team that thinks it’s going to beat Mueller and his hired killers?

    @Mark Ivey:
    I’m glad to see Lindsay getting work. Loved her in. . . OK, nothing, really. Cute though.

    7
  8. al-Ameda Avatar
    al-Ameda

    @CSK:

    Trump tweeted this morning that we should not believe the FAKE news narrative that no halfway decent lawyer wants to work with him. He claims that “many, many” great attys are dying to join his team.

    Oh yeah, they can’t wait, to turn THIS president down.

    Theodore Olson – one of America’s preeminent attorneys, one of the few in America who bills out at about $2,000 an hour, a rate that Trump’s Russian financial benefactors could afford – turned him down a few weeks ago.

    5
  9. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    I’m waiting for McGahn to throw in the towel. Seriously–why would even a lousy lawyer want to work for a client who repeatedly sabotages himself and his legal team?

    3
  10. Charon Avatar
    Charon

    Not hard to find this at Bloomberg with the Google machine …

    Sekulow said last week that diGenova’s addition to the legal team was subject to an “ongoing process of conflict review” as is standard ethics practice for lawyers. Toensing already was representing other clients involved in Russia investigations, including the president’s former campaign aide Sam Clovis and Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for Trump’s legal team.

    Corallo told Mueller that in a phone call with the president and his confidant and senior adviser Hope Hicks, Hicks insisted the president’s son Donald Trump Jr.’s emails would “never get out,” a source said. Hicks has publicly denied this. The conflict is an issue Mueller could have raised, which could present an issue if a case were to go to trial and Corallo were a witness.

    Just because I recall reading about conflicts aq couple days ago.

    1
  11. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    @michael reynolds:

    Trump is failing so spectacularly he can’t even hire decent lawyers.

    At this point, I don’t think he can even hire indecent shysters.

    They do have standards, after all.

    1
  12. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @Kathy:

    I do wish Trump would provide us with the names of those “many, many” lawyers and “top firms” who are clamoring to represent him. I really would love to know.

    3
  13. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    @michael reynolds:..(888) SHYSTER (749-7837)

    Here’s a referral for Pud. This place is likely full of cut rate ambulance chasers.

    Call Today!
    methrehabsite.online/best-residential-drug-treatment-programs-jasper-in-47546-holly-…
    Fax: 888-749-7837.

    2
  14. Blue Galangal Avatar
    Blue Galangal

    @CSK: Rachel Maddow reported what seemed to be a speculation or a preliminary report that both McMaster and McGahn were leaving the WH. One down…

    1
  15. Mister Bluster Avatar
    Mister Bluster

    Meanwhile, John Dowd’s exit from the team remains in place, so Trump’s legal team remains smaller than it was, at least for the moment.

    Like his hands…

    1
  16. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    @CSK:

    I do wish Trump would provide us with the names of those “many, many” lawyers and “top firms” who are clamoring to represent him. I really would love to know.

    I hear Lionel Hutz was high on the list, but he passed away a long time ago.

    Really, Trump’s best options is to represent himself. He meets the client criteria of such representation perfectly.

    4
  17. Slugger Avatar
    Slugger

    They had the effrontery to ask for a retainer. This wanting to get paid has limited the pool of possibles.

    2
  18. teve tory Avatar
    teve tory

    Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow

    For those who don’t know, Sekulow was the head of the ACLJ, which pat robertson founded in 1990 to be like a version of the ACLU that only helped conservative christians. Almost always when I’ve seen him in the news it’s been for losing some ridiculous case.

    3
  19. teve tory Avatar
    teve tory

    Eventually trump will be dialing his final lawyer’s number: 505-503-4455.

  20. Mr. Prosser Avatar
    Mr. Prosser

    @teve tory: Yeah, he might be good, if not try 555-5433 in Springfield.

  21. Just 'nutha ig'nint cracker Avatar
    Just ‘nutha ig’nint cracker

    @teve tory: Interesting feature to ACLJ (my mom contributed for years, so I followed it some) is that about the only cases they’ve ever won were cases in which they were joined by the ACLU. Didn’t make my mom happy to win, though.

  22. rachel Avatar
    rachel

    @One American: Trainwrecks, right? What’re’ y’gonna do? You gotta watch ’em.

    4
  23. KM Avatar
    KM

    @CSK:

    Seriously–why would even a lousy lawyer want to work for a client who repeatedly sabotages himself and his legal team?

    Because a sucker’s born every minute, that’s why. They all think if they can do this, they’ll be set for life. “The law firm that successfully defended a President” is one hell of a accolade but they’ll settle for infamy and be “the law firm that valiantly tried to defend the President from those evil commie liberals”. Honest to God, they really think the PR is worth it and will pay for itself if when Trump stiffs them on the bill. They think they’ll get all the high-flying clients if they can just get a slice of this pie……

    1
  24. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    Two more lawyers have turned Trump down: Dan Webb and Tom Buchanan. They said it would be an honor, but alas, they have business conflicts.

Latest Posts