Trump decides not to hire two lawyers whose appointment was announced last week
The President’s decision leaves him with a shrinking group of lawyers to represent him in Russia investigation
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump won’t hire two lawyers announced last week as new additions to the legal team representing him in an investigation into whether Trump campaign advisers colluded with the Russian government.
The President’s decision leaves him with a shrinking group of lawyers to defend him as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe heats up.
The President’s lead lawyer on the investigation, John Dowd, resigned last week, reportedly after Mr Dowd’s strategy for cooperating with the probe became increasingly at odds with the President’s desire to cast doubt on the fairness of the inquiry.
Also last week, it was announced that the President would hire Joseph diGenova and Mr diGenova’s wife, Victoria Toensing. Mr diGenova has accused the FBI and Justice Department of trying to frame the president with false charges of colluding with the Russian government.
But the duo’s role as part of Mr Trump's legal team remained in flux, sources told CNN. Mr DiGenova and Ms Toensing met with the President on Thursday, the news outlet reported.
“The president is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining the president’s special counsel legal team,” Mr Trump’s personal lawyer, Jay Sekulow, said in a statement to the New York Times on Sunday morning. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters. The president looks forward to working with them.”
Just hours before the announcement on Sunday, Mr Trump declared that “many lawyers” want to represent him in the Russia probe.
“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,” Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.
He continued: “Fame & fortune will NEVER be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. 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.”
The President concluded by claiming again there was “NO COLLUSION with Russia”.
Along with investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election, and whether there was any collusion with the Trump campaign, Mr Mueller is also looking into whether Mr Trump obstructed justice.
Mr Trump and his legal team have dismissed claims that he obstructed justice.
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