President Donald Trump decided to not hire Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing to represent him in special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 president election, The New York Times reported.
“The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Jay Sekulow, the president’s personal lawyer, told The New York Times in a statement Sunday. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.”
John Dowd — the president’s lead lawyer in the Mueller probe — resigned Thursday. Dowd reportedly disagreed with the president as to whether or not Trump should sit down with Mueller for an interview. Dowd thought it would be best for the president to avoid such a meeting, but the president is increasingly interested in engaging with Mueller.
Trump hired Joe diGenova, former United States attorney for the District of Columbia and frequent Fox News guest, to serve on his personal legal team last week before Dowd resigned.
Trump is not necessarily looking into hiring additional legal representation for fear it will slow down the probe and reiterated he is not concerned with the investigation because there is “NO COLLUSION with Russia,” the president said early Sunday morning.
Trump reportedly met with diGenova and Toensing in the past few days to discuss the possibility of joining his legal team in the Russia probe; but after the meetings, the president did not feel the pair would be the best fit.
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