Vice President Pence has hired an outside attorney to help handle inquiries relating to federal investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Pence has retained the services of Richmond, Va.-based attorney Richard Cullen, the chairman of the law firm McGuire Woods.
“I can confirm that the Vice President has retained Richard Cullen of McGuire Woods to assist him in responding to inquiries by the special counsel,” Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen said in a statement.
Rachel #Maddow Says Mike Pence's Choice Of Legal Defense Is Proof That He's Running Scared pic.twitter.com/3AS1pKcZt3
— Sean Colarossi (@SeanColarossi) June 16, 2017
“The Vice President is focused entirely on his duties and promoting the President’s agenda and looks forward to a swift conclusion of this matter.”
Pence picked the attorney earlier this week, following a several-week selection process that included interviews with several possible choices, an aide told The Washington Post, which first reported the news Thursday.
Pence will not use taxpayer funds to pay for the attorney, according to The Post.
The development comes less than a month after President Trump hired attorney Marc Kasowitz as outside counsel to assist him in the ongoing Russia probes.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal says it is “no accident” that Vice President Mike Pence hired his own lawyer https://t.co/0AheoBFwVp
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 15, 2017
The Post reported on Wednesday that special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the federal probe of Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election, had expanded his investigation to include an inquiry into potential obstruction of justice by Trump.
Trump on Thursday railed against the reported expansion of the federal probe on Twitter, questioning why Hillary Clinton wasn’t the subject of the Russia-related investigations but he was.
“Crooked H destroyed phones w/ hammer, ‘bleached’ emails, & had husband meet w/AG days before she was cleared- & they talk about obstruction?” Trump wrote, referencing the past investigation into Clinton’s private email server she used as secretary of State.
Trump has come under increased scrutiny over the past month in the wake of his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, who was leading the federal investigation into Russian election meddling before he was ousted in early May.
In an interview with NBC’s Lester Holt that aired days after Comey’s termination, Trump acknowledged that the Russia probe was on his mind when he decided to fire the FBI chief. News reports later revealed that Trump had told visiting Russian officials that firing Comey relieved him of “great pressure” because of the investigation.
Investigators are also reportedly interested in a February meeting between Trump and Comey, in which the president pressed the then-FBI director to drop the bureau’s investigation into his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/875895989038723073
GET HIM!
https://twitter.com/TPM/status/875738344680034304
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/875730701211103234
https://twitter.com/jonathanjewel/status/875732618901204993
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/875723324550205440
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/875729980373827584
https://twitter.com/3ChicsPolitico/status/875730109042483201
https://twitter.com/RMSchneiderman/status/875726649764990979
Hilarity on Rosenstein’s weird statement
https://twitter.com/IvanTheK/status/875544212669956097
For all those clueless White House staffers unfamiliar with the ways of Washington…Pence doing what he has done?
That’s the bat signal….
LAWYER UP!!!!
https://twitter.com/20committee/status/875489517687406592
https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/875480342391648257
Hmmmm…What’s coming down the pike?
https://twitter.com/USATODAY/status/875562607121358849
https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/875527046319005696
https://twitter.com/thehill/status/875552532441026560
https://twitter.com/rjoseph7777/status/875565581944016899
https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/875566127719501824
https://twitter.com/Spicerlies/status/875530509975252992
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/875528326470926338
https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/875477544421797888
https://twitter.com/ItIzBiz/status/875519574631825408
https://twitter.com/RawStory/status/875548377269841920
https://twitter.com/DanEggenWPost/status/875474329613586432