Joseph E. diGenova of Washington's diGenova & Toensing, appears for then-U.S. Attorney Ron Machen's investiture in 2010. Photo by Diego M. Radzinschi/THE NATIONAL LAW JOURNALTrump Legal Team Reshuffles Again as DiGenova Firm Backs Out
Joseph diGenova and his wife Victoria Toensing won't be helping the president battle Robert Mueller after all. Plus: Hogan Lovells lures a trademark pro from Finnegan, Arnold & Porter picks up Chris Christie's nemesis, and Squire Patton Boggs defends Cambridge Analytica in the U.K.
March 23, 2018 at 04:15 PM
6 minute read
Washington Wrap is a weekly look at the biggest legal industry news and Big Law moves shaping the legal business in Washington, D.C. Send tips and lateral moves to Ryan Lovelace at [email protected].
After a tumultuous week for the president's legal team, the weekend brought even more whiplash. Trump's personal lawyer Jay Sekulow said in a statement Sunday that Joseph diGenova and his wife Victoria Toensing won't be joining after all, at least when it comes to Russia probe matters.
“The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president's special counsel legal team,” Sekulow said. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.”
Toensing represents Mark Corallo, a former spokesperson for the Trump legal team, as well as Sam Clovis, who was a national co-chair for the Trump campaign. Both have reportedly spoken with investigators working with special counsel Robert Mueller.
In a pair of tweets early Sunday, the president protested any notion that he has become a toxic would-be client.
“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,” he tweeted. “Problem is that a new … 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!” Trump added.
John Dowd, the top lawyer representing Trump in the special counsel investigation, left the president's team on Thursday amid reports that the former Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partner was fed up with his boss for ignoring his advice.
Dowd's departure, meanwhile, came just days after the president had tapped diGenova to join the lineup, and after Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher's Ted Olson briskly declined to come on board. DiGenova has attacked Mueller's team directly and pushed the notion that FBI and Justice Department officials attempted to frame Trump.
The changes to Trump's crew could mean Marc Kasowitz of Kasowitz Benson Torres again takes a more public role as the group—which for now still includes Sekulow and ex-Hogan Lovells partner Ty Cobb—squares off with Mueller. A source familiar with Kasowitz's role said Kasowitz has remained active at a strategic level in the lawyers' response to Mueller's probe, and now his responsibilities may change.
Meanwhile, White House counsel Don McGahn is considering leaving government and returning to his former firm, Jones Day, according to Politico. But McGahn's potential exit could be contingent upon Trump's ability to find a replacement-in-waiting.
Law Firm Moves, News and Notes:
Danielle Gray, former President Barack Obama's cabinet secretary, joined the Biden Institute's policy board and is starting Monday as Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's chief legal officer and corporate secretary.
Gray worked most recently as a partner at O'Melveny & Myers, after holding other positions in the Obama White House and Justice Department. Gray's move comes as other political heavyweights have signed on to Joe Biden's board ahead of the 2020 election, including former 2008 Obama campaign manager David Plouffe and former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. In 2013, Newsweek called Gray “the most powerful staffer you've never heard of.”
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Baker & Hostetler is getting new leadership in 2019, this time based in Washington, D.C.
The firm on Thursday elected Paul Schmidt as its next chair. Schmidt, leader of the firm's national tax practice, replaces Steven Kestner, who led the firm for 15 years from Ohio.
In recent months the firm has become part of the ever-expanding narrative about Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections, thanks to its work with Fusion GPS, a source of the so-called Steele dossier. Fusion GPS co-founder Glenn Simpson testified about his work with Baker & Hostetler attorneys to the Senate Judiciary Committee in August 2017.
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Trademark specialist Julia Anne Matheson has joined Hogan Lovells as partner in Washington after several decades at the intellectual property firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner.
“After 24 years at Finnegan it was definitely a tough decision, but Hogan Lovells offers a very dynamic, international platform for my practice, lots of cross-selling opportunities, and the chance to work with a very impressive roster of existing clients at the firm,” Matheson said. “For me at this point, I had clients that were interested in having access also to regulatory attorneys and corporate attorneys, so there was an excellent synergy that meant that this platform could potentially be a better growth opportunity.”
Matheson said two former colleagues recruited her to Hogan Lovells, including one who interned at Finnegan approximately 20 years ago.
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Squire Patton Boggs is representing Cambridge Analytica in the United Kingdom in the wake of reports that the voter-profile company accessed the personal data of tens of millions of Facebook users.
The law firm's involvement was evident in a 2017 tweet by one of the reporters involved in breaking the story. But according to a person with knowledge of the matter, Cleveland-based Squire is not representing Cambridge Analytica in the United States, where the company is already facing multiple class action lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, along with intense scrutiny over its ties to Trump's 2016 campaign.
No defense firm has made an appearance in the U.S. litigation, but this month attorney Sean Richardson joined Cambridge Analytica as the company's New York-based “head of legal,” according to his LinkedIn profile. Richardson did not respond to requests for comment. Before joining Cambridge Analytica, the Columbia Law-educated Richardson was chief legal officer for Blingby, a digital marketing and technology company.
In the U.K., Squire is representing the company in an investigation by the country's information commissioner's office into its use of data for political purposes. A search of Cambridge Analytica's London offices was slowed this week while a court evaluated the commissioner's urgent warrant request.
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Paul Fishman, who served more than seven years as the U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey before the Trump administration sought his resignation, is joining D.C.-heavyweight Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer in New York.
Fishman garnered attention in recent years as the prosecutor in New Jersey's “Bridgegate” scandal.
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