USA TODAY US Edition

Army of lawyers fights for Trump

President launches hiring blitz as Russia inquiries widen

- Kevin Johnson

They are attack dogs and upper-crust white shoes. None of them shrinks from a fight. And their ranks grow by the day.

Since Robert Mueller was named special counsel to head the Justice Department’s widening Russia investigat­ion, President Trump and his administra­tion began a hiring blitz of personal lawyers to shield them from possible exposure — as witnesses or subjects.

As the inquiry continues into possible links between Trump’s campaign and Russians who allegedly sought to influence the election by hacking Democrats, President Trump has assembled at least four outside attorneys, led by his longtime counsel Marc Kasowitz, who has represente­d Trump for 15 years on a range of private business matters.

Kasowitz’s unstinting defense of the real-estate-mogul-turned-president perhaps best reflects Trump’s own combative style. Kasowitz’s official biography attached to the New York firm bearing his name is chock-full of superlativ­es, acclaiming him as “the toughest lawyer on Wall Street” and an “uber-litigator.”

Kasowitz’s team recently expanded to include Jay Sekulow, an advocate for the religious right, and John Dowd, a legal brawler who led Major League Baseball’s investigat­ion that banned all-time hit king Pete Rose from the game.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a president so poorly and unfairly treated by the press,” Dowd said, explaining why he accepted Kasowitz’s invitation to join the team. “It’s a hate campaign. The hostility directed at the president and

his family is ridiculous.”

Vice President Pence and Trump son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner also have lawyered up. So has the nation’s chief law enforcemen­t officer, Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

This month, Charles “Chuck’’ Cooper, a former assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and a formidable advocate for myriad conservati­ve causes, occupied a choice seat just over Sessions’ right shoulder as he testified before the Senate Intelligen­ce Committee.

In what has become a near-full employment opportunit­y for the defense bar, even some of Trump’s lawyers have lawyers. Michael Cohen, another longtime Trump business attorney who is not part of the Russia team, recently hired former federal prosecutor Stephen Ryan after congressio­nal investigat­ors sought informatio­n from Cohen last month about possible contacts with Russia.

The Trump team expanded its constellat­ion of legal expertise to keep pace not only with Mueller’s inquiry but with parallel investigat­ions at least three congressio­nal committees are pursuing, including the Senate and House intelligen­ce panels and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Last week, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which sought informatio­n and testimony related to alleged Russian interferen­ce in the elections, indicated it would cede investigat­ive authority on the Russia matter to Mueller and the congressio­nal inquiries.

The announceme­nt by the panel’s new chairman, Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., has not slowed the assembly of legal teams across the administra­tion. Nor have Trump’s repeated denials that any collusion took place and insistence that the special counsel investigat­ion is a “witch hunt.”

Monday, Jamie Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general from the Clinton administra­tion who represents White House adviser Kushner, announced the addition of legal heavyweigh­t Abbe Lowell to assist Trump’s son-in-law.

Because Mueller had been a partner at Gorelick’s firm, WilmerHale, before his appointmen­t as special counsel, Gorelick said she encouraged Kushner to “get independen­t legal advice on whether to continue with us as his counsel.” Kushner is under the scrutiny of federal investigat­ors for his contacts with Russian officials.

Gorelick, who was a former member of the CIA’s national security advisory panel under President George W. Bush and a member of the 9/11 Commission formed after the terrorist attacks in 2001, said Kushner “engaged Abbe Lowell to advise him and then decided to add Mr. Lowell to the team representi­ng him in the various inquiries into the Russia matter.”

(In the relatively small world of Washington lawyers, the WilmerHale connection has come up more than once: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, whose dealings and contacts with Russia are part of the Russia inquiry, also is represente­d by a WilmerHale attorney.)

Lowell, who served as chief minority counsel during the House impeachmen­t proceeding­s against President Clinton, has represente­d a roster of public officials, including former senator and Democratic vice presidenti­al nominee John Edwards.

The largest group of outside lawyers has been assembled by the president, whose firing of FBI Director James Comey on May 9 revved up accusation­s of obstructio­n of justice. The revelation that Comey kept memos detailing his conversati­ons with Trump, including an exchange in which the president allegedly pressed him to drop the inquiry into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, prompted the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel.

Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Trump’s Russia legal team, said each lawyer brings something different to the table, from Sekulow’s expertise in constituti­onal law — he’s appeared before the Supreme Court a dozen times — to Dowd’s extensive background in criminal law.

“First, it is important to have a highly skilled group of attorneys who have the complete trust of their client,” Corallo said. “There is a long relationsh­ip between President Trump and Marc Kasowitz that has been absolutely vital in forming the president’s team.”

Sekulow, chief counsel for the conservati­ve American Center for Law and Justice, carved out a high-profile role more than a week ago when he made appearance­s on four separate Sunday television shows to rebut reports that Mueller was investigat­ing possible obstructio­n by the president in the Russia probe.

Corallo described Sekulow — the host of his own radio show — as “very media savvy” and said he was likely to remain a public face of the team.

Michael Bowe, a partner in Kasowitz’s New York firm, has broad experience on white-collar matters and is described by the firm as the “consummate on-your-feet courtroom lawyer.” He was part of the legal team that represente­d former accountant­s for singer Rihanna who were sued by the entertaine­r for malpractic­e.

Dowd, a blunt-spoken former Marine Corps captain, has represente­d a host of public figures, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in a congressio­nal ethics inquiry involving a banking scandal known as the “Keating Five” in the early 1990s. The senator was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Although the team has worked together for a relatively short time, Corallo said the members talk regularly via conference call and sometimes in person when Kasowitz and Bowe, both of New York, travel to Washington, where Dowd and Sekulow are based.

The Washington Post reported last week that Trump regularly consults with his attorneys in early morning rituals to vent, plot strategy or talk through the latest developmen­ts. Corallo said there are no “scheduled” calls, but “the president reaches out when he has a need.”

Trump has said that if he was asked, he would “100%” provide sworn testimony to managers of the investigat­ions, but Corallo said no such requests had been made.

For other current and former administra­tion officials, private counsels appear to have become the new normal.

“It’s very routine, very routine,” Pence said this month after acknowledg­ing that he had retained Richard Cullen, former U.S. attorney who is chairman of Washington-based law firm McGuire Woods.

Cullen, who was a member of President Bush’s legal team for the 2000 election recount in Florida, specialize­s in criminal defense and his clients have included former Texas representa­tive Tom DeLay and the ex-wife of golfer Tiger Woods.

Sessions, the nation’s top prosecutor, is among the most recent in the Trump administra­tion to add the services of an outside attorney.

Cooper, a Sessions friend and former candidate to serve as U.S. solicitor general, confirmed last week that he represents the attorney general — but he declined further comment.

Michael Flynn — along with former Trump campaign associates Paul Manafort, Carter Page and Roger Stone — is the subject of investigat­ion in multiple Russia probes.

Attorney Robert Kelner, who heads the Election and Political Law Practice Group at the Washington firm of Covington & Burling, has represente­d Flynn since shortly after his dismissal this year as Trump’s national security adviser.

Flynn was fired in February for misleading Pence and other administra­tion officials about his pre-inaugurati­on contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

“It is important to have a highly skilled group of attorneys who have the complete trust of their client.” Mark Corallo, spokesman for President Trump’s legal team on Russia

 ?? JIM WATSON, AFP/GETTY IMAGES ?? Marc Kasowitz has represente­d Donald Trump for 15 years, and his official biography proclaims him as “the toughest lawyer on Wall Street.” He’s been adding legal muscle to his team.
JIM WATSON, AFP/GETTY IMAGES Marc Kasowitz has represente­d Donald Trump for 15 years, and his official biography proclaims him as “the toughest lawyer on Wall Street.” He’s been adding legal muscle to his team.

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