[W]ASHINGTON — The law partners and family members of the vice chair of the Vermont Republican Party will not be joining President Donald Trump’s legal team after all.
Trump appeared poised to retain prominent D.C. attorneys Joseph diGenova and Victoria Toensing to be part of his team handling the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. A lawyer for Trump had confirmed that diGenova would be hired last Monday.
Vermont Republican Party Vice Chair Brady Toensing, Victoria Toensing’s son, is also a partner in the couple’s law firm.
According to a statement from Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for the president, diGenova and Toensing could not be part of the team because of “conflicts.” Sekulow suggested in a statement that the lawyers would work with Trump in a different capacity.
“The President is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the President’s Special Counsel legal team,” Sekulow said in a statement. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the President in other legal matters. The President looks forward to working with them.“
Brady Toensing declined comment on Monday.
According to reports, Trump met with diGenova and Victoria Toensing last week. CNN cited an anonymous source who said that Trump like their message but had reservations about hiring them.
There were also concerns raised about potential conflicts. Victoria Toensing represents other clients who are within the scope of Mueller’s probe.
Brady Toensing headed Trump’s campaign committee in Vermont in the 2016 election.
Toensing has become known in Vermont for raising legal challenges to high profile liberal politicians. He filed a complaint against former state Attorney General Bill Sorrell for alleged campaign finance law violations and prompted an FBI probe of the handling of Burlington College finances by Jane O’Meara Sanders, wife of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
DiGenova and Victoria Toensing are frequent guests on television news programs. DiGenova has promoted a theory that the special counsel probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election is a plot to frame the president.
Trump’s legal team in the probe has undergone major shifts recently. John Dowd, who had been leading the team, resigned Thursday.
