The East Montpelier man who says he regrets selling his family home to his neighbor, Gov. Peter Shumlin, in November has a lawyer — or two — for a new round of negotiations.
Jeremy Dodge previously had said that he did not want negotiations over his controversial land deal with Shumlin to get political. But it just so happens that his lawyer, Brady Toensing, has a history with the Republican Party and with Shumlin.
Toensing, a Charlotte resident and partner at the Washington, D.C., firm diGenova & Toensing LLP represented former gubernatorial candidate Brian Dubie in a dispute over alleged 2010 campaign violations. Dubie, who ran against Shumlin, did not admit to any wrongdoing, but he and the Republican Governors Association settled with the state for $50,000. Democratic Attorney General Bill Sorrell said that there was no evidence that Dubie willfully broke campaign finance laws.
Toensing also filed a public records request during the 2010 campaign that spotlighted special police treatment for then-Sen. Shumlin, whose 81-mile-per-hour speeding ticket was voided. The Associated Press reported during that time that Toensing’s firm provided $1,800 of research to Dubie’s 2010 campaign. It also reported that in 2006 Toensing filed a public records request for then-Democratic lieutenant governor candidate Matt Dunne’s attendance records in the Vermont Senate. Dunne ran unsuccessfully against Dubie in the lieutenant governor race that year.
Williston-based real estate attorney Joy Karnes Limoge will also represent Dodge in the negotiations over the property.
Toensing’s mother, Victoria Toensing, runs diGenova & Toensing with her husband, Joseph diGenova. The two were attorneys at the Department of Justice under the Reagan administration, and Victoria Toensing was chief counsel for Sen. Barry Goldwater, R-Ariz., from 1981 to 1984. DiGenova was U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for four years.
Brady Toensing, a former staffer for Sen. Warren Rudman, R-N.H., would not comment when asked if there were political motivations behind taking Dodge on as a client. But Toensing did note that his firm had represented many Democrats over the years, including Jack Quinn, former White House counsel to Bill Clinton.
The property dispute between Shumlin and Dodge came to light last month, when the media began scrutinizing the deal that was made in November. Dodge, a high school dropout and ex-con, regrets selling his family homestead to Shumlin and claims that he had no idea what his options were when the governor, who lives next door, purchased it. Dodge says he has received just over $20,000 for the property, or about a seventh of the assessed value, since the governor bought the property a few days before it was slated for a tax auction.
Shumlin’s attorney, M. Jerome Diamond, said last week that Shumlin is willing to sell the property back to Dodge for what had been paid out of pocket thus far. Diamond, who is a well-known lawyer and a former Democratic Vermont attorney general, said he was waiting for Dodge to obtain legal counsel.
The first time Dodge and Shumlin negotiated the deal, Dodge did not have legal counsel. Shumlin told reporters weeks ago that he would only renegotiate if Dodge had legal representation. While Shumlin said he would pay for that legal help, Brady Toensing would not disclose who was funding his services for Dodge.
Although Toensing declined to verbally comment on the matter, he did provide reporters with a written statement.
“Mr. Dodge has been dealing with a sophisticated and shrewd businessman,” he wrote. “A businessman who is also the most powerful person in Vermont, being represented by one of the best lawyers money can buy. Mr. Dodge clearly needed some help. And we welcome the opportunity to assist a fellow Vermonter.”
Limoge acknowledged the collaboration with Toensing, but would not comment in detail on the arrangement.
“In a nutshell, Mr. Dodge needed some representation, and we are stepping up, hoping to get him a speedy resolution,” she said.
Neither Jeremy Dodge nor members of his family were available for comment at the time of publication.
