President Donald Trump will not be hiring two attorneys to advise him on the ongoing Russia probe by the Special Counsel.
Facing conflicts, Joe diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, will not be joining the president’s legal team, ABC News confirms.
In a statement to ABC News, Trump’s attorney, Jay Sekulow, says, “The President is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the President’s Special Counsel legal team. However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the President in other legal matters. The President looks forward to working with them.“
Last week, reports surfaced that the president was having difficulties finding lawyers to represent him and join his legal team amid the ongoing investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
It was just four days ago that the president’s top attorney, John Dowd — the man who was negotiating a potential interview with Mueller — quit.
Last week, when asked if he would sit down for an interview with Mueller, Trump said, “Sure I would like to. I would like to.”
Now, Sekulow remains the only attorney on the team helping the president navigate the special counsel investigation. Ty Cobb remains the in-house White House lawyer handling issues related the presidency.
On Sunday morning, the president tried to squelch reports that he was having trouble finding representation as the Russia inquiry advances. The president tweeted yet again he is, in fact, happy with his legal team.
“Many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the Russia case…don’t believe the Fake News narrative that it is hard to find a lawyer who wants to take this on. Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new … ” Trump tweeted.
“…lawyer or law firm will take months to get up to speed (if for no other reason than they can bill more), which is unfair to our great country – and I am very happy with my existing team. Besides, there was NO COLLUSION with Russia, except by Crooked Hillary and the Dems!” He continued.
Sources tell ABC News the president’s legal team continues to look for more attorneys to join, but at the moment no one is stepping in to fill those roles yet.
