Legal teams involved in the Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)

The 2017-2019 Special Counsel investigation involves multiple legal teams, specifically the attorneys, supervised by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, taking part in the investigation; the team representing President Trump in his personal capacity; and the team representing the White House as an institution separate from the President.

According to CNN, as of August 2018, the Mueller team includes 15 attorneys, led by Mueller.[1] The additional supporting staff brings the number over 30.

Emmet Flood heads a team representing the White House, and Trump personally is represented by Jay Sekulow, Andrew Ekonomou, Rudy Giuliani, the Raskin & Raskin law firm, and Joanna Hendon. Former members of this team include white-collar crimes expert John Dowd and Ty Cobb representing the office of the presidency.

Mueller's legal team has been consistently attacked as biased against President Trump, who has repeatedly referred to it as "The 13 Angry Democrats".[2] Mueller, though, is a registered Republican, and choosing to hire or not hire career attorneys on the basis of political affiliation is contrary to both Justice Department policy and federal law.[3]

Mueller and investigation team

Special Counsel and former FBI Director Robert Mueller.

Upon his appointment as special counsel, Mueller resigned his position at the Washington office of law firm WilmerHale, along with two colleagues, Aaron Zebley and James L. Quarles III.[4][5] On 23 May 2017, the U.S. Department of Justice ethics experts announced they had declared Mueller ethically able to function as special counsel.[6]

Politico proposed that the "ideal team" would likely have six to eight prosecutors, along with administrative assistants and experts in areas such as money laundering or interpreting tax returns.[7] Mueller had hired 17 lawyers by February 2018,[8] and had a total staff of over three dozen, including investigators and other non-attorneys by August 2017.[9] He also has an active role in managing the inquiry.[10]

Attorneys

• Zainab Ahmad: assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, specializing in terrorism cases;[11] "concluded her detail" under Mueller in March 2019 "but will continue to represent the office on specific pending matters that were assigned to her during her detail."[12]
• Heather Alpino: Previously at the Counterintelligence and Export Control Section of the DOJ National Security Division.[13]
• Greg Andres: former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, managed foreign bribery division[14]
• Uzo Asonye: Deputy Chief of the Financial Crimes and Public Corruption office at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.[13]
• Rush Atkinson: trial attorney in the DOJ fraud section[11]
• Deborah Curtis: Deputy Chief of the Counterespionage Section at the DOJ's National Security Division[13]
• Michael Dreeben: Deputy Solicitor General, who oversees the Justice Department's criminal appellate docket; an expert in criminal law[15][16][11]
• Andrew D. Goldstein: former leader of the public corruption unit, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York[17][11]
• Adam Jed: attorney in the DOJ Civil Division, appellate section[18]
• Jonathan Kravis - previous experience prosecuting public corruption[13]
• Robert Mueller: symbolic team leader; Special counsel for the United States Department of Justice[10]
• Elizabeth Prelogar: appellate attorney with the Solicitor General's office; fluent in Russian; former law clerk to Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan[19][11]
• James L. Quarles III: former assistant special prosecutor on the Watergate Special Prosecution Force[11]
• Kathryn Rakoczy: prosecutor focusing on violent street crimes.[13]
• Jeannie S. Rhee: Partner at Wilmer Hale, specializing in white-collar crime; a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia[11]
• Andrew Weissmann: chief of the DOJ Criminal Division's Fraud Section[7][11]
• Aaron Zebley: former chief of staff to Mueller at the FBI and Deputy Special Counsel of the investigation [11] [20]
• Aaron S. J. Zelinsky: an attorney on detail from the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland[21][22]

Support personnel

• Jason Alberts: leading corruption investigator with the New York FBI office, formerly a political appointee of President George W. Bush in the Department of the Interior's solicitor's office[23]
• David Archey: FBI agent, succeeded Peter Strzok as leader of the team's FBI contingent, previously part of the Hillary Clinton email investigation;[23] left in Feb-Mar 2019 to become chief of the FBI's field office in Richmond, VA[24]
• William Barnett: FBI agent investigating Michael Flynn[23]
• Peter Carr: team spokesman, a veteran DOJ spokesman[25]
• Francesco Corral: FBI supervisory special agent investigating cybersecurity aspects of the case, previously worked on foreign intelligence cybersecurity cases[23]
• Brock W. Domin: FBI special agent, majored in Russian language and literature at Notre Dame, specialized in national security investigations and financial crimes[23]
• Sherine Ebadi: FBI agent specialized in fraud, money laundering and identity theft[23]
• Jennifer Edwards: accountant with the FBI since 2006, won the Attorney General's award in 2016 for her work on the DC-area Child Exploitation Task Force of the FBI[23]
• Robert Gibbs: FBI agent since 2003, previously worked on Chinese espionage cases[23]
• Walter Giardina: FBI agent and Marine veteran of the Iraq War[23]
• Curtis Heide: FBI agent previously based in Chicago[23]
• Omer Meisel: FBI agent since 1999 and former Securities and Exchange Commission investigator, previously worked on high-profile financial crime and public corruption cases[23]

Mueller has also added unidentified agents of the IRS Criminal Investigations Division (also known as CI) to his team. The Daily Beast, referring to the CI division as one of the government's "most tight-knit, specialized, and secretive investigative entities," reported that Mueller had enjoyed working with CI agents when he was a government attorney.[26]

Mueller's team is also working with the Attorney General of New York on its investigation into Manafort's financial transactions.[27]

Former members

• Ryan K. Dickey: former assistant US attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, veteran cyber prosecutor from the DOJ Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section.[28] Departure was first reported in August 2018.[1]
• Kyle Freeny: attorney for the money laundering unit at the Department of Justice.[29] Left mid-October 2018.[30]
• Scott A. C. Meisler: appellate attorney with the DOJ Criminal Division.[31] Left in December 2018.[32]
• Lisa C. Page: DOJ trial attorney in the FBI's Criminal Division Organized Crime Section; formerly an attorney in the office of the FBI general counsel.[33] Her removal from the team was reported in late September 2017.[34]
• Brian M. Richardson: clerked for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the US district court in Brooklyn and the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.[8] His departure was first reported in August 2018.[1]
• Peter Strzok: FBI counterintelligence investigator. Strzok was removed from the team in late July 2017 for exchanging anti-Trump and pro-Hillary Clinton text messages with his colleague Lisa Page. Strzok was later fired from the FBI.[35][36][37][38]
• Brandon Van Grack: United States Department of Justice National Security Division Prosecutor.[11] His departure was first reported in October 2018.[30]

Personnel affiliations

Though Trump and others have criticized the fact that many members of Mueller's team have had some affiliation with the Democratic Party, federal regulations prohibit Mueller from considering political affiliation in hiring decisions.[39] Republican members of the House of Representatives have accused the investigation of being manned by personnel with an "anti-Trump" bias who "let Clinton off easy last year",[40] in reference to the FBI's investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server, which also contradicts the stated reason for Trump's firing of James Comey.

Investigation expenses

As of December 2018, the total cost of the investigation has been approximately $25 million, while gaining approximately $48 million.[41][42] More than half of the cost of the investigation was for personnel compensation and benefits. The gains were accrued primarily by uncovering unpaid taxes by targets in the investigation, seizing assets, and collecting fines.[41] The attorneys have taken significant cuts in pay to work on the investigation, with their normal salaries "ranging from just under $1 million (for Zebley) to about $4.1 million (for Quarles)". Their current salaries "range from $105,782 to $187,000".[43]

Trump's legal team

Trump's lead attorney Rudy Giuliani disclosed on 13 September 2018 that Trump's and Manafort's legal teams have had a joint agreement through which they've exchanged confidential information "all during the investigation".[44]

Members of President Trump's legal team include:[45]

Representing the White House

• Emmet Flood: Flood served as a Special Counsel during the George W. Bush Administration and represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment process. On 2 May 2018, he was named to replace Ty Cobb, who said he would remain with the team for a brief transition period.[46] Flood is a partner at Williams & Connolly.

Representing Trump personally

Rudy Giuliani

• Andrew Ekonomou: a former prosecutor with a doctorate in medieval history; joined March 2018.[47]
• Rudy Giuliani: former mayor of New York City and United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Joined 19 April 2018.[48][49]
• Joanna Hendon: criminal defense lawyer at New York–based firm Spears & Imes; represents Trump in the matter involving the raids on Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen. Joined April 2018.[50][51]
• Jane Serene Raskin and Martin R. ("Marty") Raskin: former federal prosecutors, now principals of Raskin & Raskin, a Coral Gables, Florida law firm emphasizing white collar criminal defense.[52] Joined 19 April 2018.[48][53]
• Jay Sekulow: the chief counsel at the American Center for Law & Justice, a conservative, Christian-based social organization.[45][5] Joined in June 2017.[54]

Former members of the President's legal team

• Michael J. Bowe: an attorney at Marc Kasowitz's firm[5]
• Ty Cobb: a white-collar crime lawyer;[55][56] was on White House staff representing the office of the presidency and was not on Trump's personal legal team.[57] He joined in June 2017[45] and announced on 2 May 2018, that he would leave the team with the appointment of Emmet Flood to replace him.[46] Cobb's last day was 18 May 2018.
• Mark Corallo, spokesman for Kasowitz and the White House; resigned on 20 July 2017.[55]
• John M. Dowd, former leader of the team;[56][58] joined in June 2017; resigned on 22 March 2018.[59]
• Marc Kasowitz, Trump's personal attorney and the first member of the team; resigned on 20 July 2017.[60][55]

Prominent lawyers and law firms that have declined offers to join Trump's legal team

In an article describing the "unique circumstance" of Rudy Giuliani's unpaid leave of absence from Greenberg Traurig while representing Trump, possibly because of "potential conflicts", Christine Simmons referred to how some other law firms may have turned down representing Trump in the Russia case due to "public relations headaches or business and recruitment concerns".[49] Trump has called such views a "Fake News narrative",[61][62] but, according to Ryan Lovelace of The National Law Journal, "many Washington defense attorneys aren't so sure".[62]

A number of prominent lawyers and law firms are known to have declined offers to join Trump's legal team,[63][64] including Robert S. Bennett of Hogan Lovells,[65] Paul Clement and Mark Filip, both with Kirkland & Ellis,[66] Robert Giuffra Jr. of Sullivan & Cromwell,[65] Theodore B. Olson of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher,[67] and Brendan V. Sullivan Jr. of Williams & Connolly.[66] Other firms with attorneys who have declined to represent Trump include Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan,[68] Steptoe & Johnson,[68] and Winston & Strawn.[69] Former U.S. Attorney Joseph diGenova and his wife Victoria Toensing were also briefly slated to join Trump's legal team, but withdrew their services from Trump in March 2018, citing conflicts of interest.[70]

Others

• Michael Cohen, Trump's former long-time personal attorney, who is fully cooperating with the Special Counsel and admitted to violating campaign finance laws, is represented by Lanny Davis.[71][72]
• James Comey, whose assertions regarding statements made by Trump are central to the investigation, has a legal team including former independent counsel Patrick Fitzgerald.[73]
• Paul Manafort, a key player in the allegations of improper contact between then-candidate Trump and the Russian government, is represented by Kevin Downing.[74][75] Trump's and Manafort's legal teams have had a joint agreement through which they've exchanged confidential information "all during the investigation".[44]

See also

• Special Counsel investigation (2017–2019)
• Special prosecutor
• Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections

References

1. Polantz, Katelyn (31 August 2018). "Two prosecutors leave Mueller's office". CNN. Retrieved 31 August 2018.
2. "Donald J. Trump on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
3. "Checking Trump's claims on Mueller team's partisanship". PolitiFact. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
4. Taylor, Jessica; Johnson, Carrie (17 May 2017). "Former FBI Director Mueller Appointed As Special Counsel To Oversee Russia Probe". NPR. Archived from the original on 17 May 2017.
5. Jarrett, Laura; Perez, Evan (10 June 2017). "Mueller staffing up Russia probe while Trump lawyer declares victory". CNN. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
6. Savage, Charlie (23 May 2017). "Ethics experts clear special counsel in Russia investigation". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2017.
7. Samuelsohn, Darren (6 June 2017). "Everything we know about the Mueller probe so far". Politico. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
8. Cohen, Marshall; Yellin, Tal; Kelly, Caroline; Stark, Liz (23 February 2018). "Meet the Mueller team". CNN.
9. Perez, Evan; Brown, Pamela; Prokupecz, Shimon (3 August 2017). "One year into the FBI's Russia investigation, Mueller is on the Trump money trail". CNN. Archived from the original on 4 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
10. Williams, Pete (2 June 2017). "Special Counsel Robert Mueller Taking Close Control of Russia Investigation". NBC News. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017.
11. Zapotosky, Matt (5 July 2017). "As Mueller builds his Russia special-counsel team, every hire is under scrutiny". The Washington Post.
12. Samuelsohn, Darren. "Another prosecutor leaving Mueller's team". POLITICO.
13. Woodruff, Betsy (11 July 2018). "Inside Mueller's New Army". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 11 July 2018.
14. Freifeld, Karen (1 August 2017). "Exclusive: Former Justice Department official joins Mueller team". Reuters. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
15. Overley, Jeff (9 May 2016). "100 Oral Arguments: How A DOJ Atty Made High Court History". Law360. Archived from the original on 13 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
16. Mauro, Tony (9 June 2017). "Mueller Enlists Top Criminal Law Expert for Russia Probe". The National Law Journal. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
17. Weiser, Benjamin (30 June 2017). "Manhattan Prosecutor Joins Inquiry into Russian Meddling in Election". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
18. Coyle, Marcia (22 June 2017). "Mueller Bolsters Russia Team's Appellate Readiness in New Hire". The National Law Journal. Archived from the original on 18 July 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
19. Mauro, Tony (19 June 2017). "Mueller Recruits Another Lawyer from Solicitor General's Office to Russia Probe". The National Law Journal. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017.
20. Wilmehale. "Aaron M. Zebley | WilmerHale", Retrieved 7/10/20
21. Johnson, Carrie (8 July 2017). "Special Counsel Mueller Lets His Actions Do The Talking: 15 Hires, More to Come". NPR. Archived from the original on 8 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
22. Tillman, Zoe (27 June 2017). "A Lawyer Who Worked For Rod Rosenstein Has Joined The Special Counsel Team Investigating Russia". BuzzFeed. Archived from the original on 7 July 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017.
23. Gerstein, Josh (17 May 2018). "Inside Mueller's FBI team". Politico. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
24. David W. Archey Named Special Agent in Charge of the Richmond Field Office, FBI National Press Office, 8 March 2019
25. Gerstein, Josh (26 May 2017). "Trump–Russia special prosecutor Mueller taps spokesman". Politico. Archived from the original on 15 June 2017.
26. Woodruff, Betsy (31 August 2017). "Exclusive: Mueller Enlists the IRS for His Trump–Russia Investigation". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 1 September 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
27. "Mueller teams up with New York attorney general in Manafort probe". Politico.
28. Zapotosky, Matt (10 January 2018). "Mueller adds veteran cyber prosecutor to special-counsel team". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
29. "Another prosecutor joins Trump–Russia probe". Politico. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017.
30. Polantz, Katy (3 October 2018). "2 additional prosecutors leave Mueller's office". CNN. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
31. Freifeld, Karen (3 October 2017). "Justice Department appeals lawyer on Mueller Russia probe". Reuters. Retrieved 14 May 2018.
32. Polantz, Katy (2019-02-06). "Mueller prosecutor leaves team in latest sign investigation is winding down". CNN. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
33. Graff, Garrett (14 June 2017). "Robert Mueller Chooses His Investigatory Dream Team". Wired. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
34. Levine, Mike; Thomas, Pierre (28 September 2017). "Special counsel's Russia investigation team loses 2nd FBI veteran". ABC News. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
35. "The FBI agent Mueller ousted was behind 2 critical turning points in the Clinton and Trump–Russia investigations". Business Insider.
36. Demirjian, Karoun; Barrett, Devlin (2 December 2017). "Top FBI official assigned to Mueller's Russia probe said to have been removed after sending anti-Trump texts". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
37. Levine, Mike (16 August 2017). "Special counsel's Russia probe loses top FBI investigator". ABC News. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
38. "Mueller removed FBI agent from Russia probe for anti-Trump texts: reports". Reuters. 2 December 2017. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
39. Kessler, Glenn (18 March 2018). "Analysis – Fact-checking Trump's error-filled tweetstorm about the Mueller probe". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
40. Kelly, Erin (6 December 2017). "House conservatives ramp up accusations of bias against Trump in Russia probe". USA Today.
41. Gillespie, Emily (December 14, 2018). "Mueller Investigation Cost $25 Million So Far, Report Says. It's Pulled in Nearly $48 Million from Tax Cheats". Fortune. Archived from the original on December 16, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
42. Higgins, Tucker; Malter, Jordan (September 17, 2018). "Special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation could turn a profit for the government, thanks to Paul Manafort's asset forfeiture". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 19, 2018. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
43. Zahn, Max (14 June 2018). "Mueller's Team Gave Up Millions In Pay to Join the Russia Probe. Here's How Much They Make". Time. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
44. "Giuliani: Trump sees no danger in Manafort plea". Politico. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
45. Maizland, Lindsay (26 July 2017). "Meet the new team of lawyers trying to protect Donald Trump". Vox. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
46. "Trump to Add Clinton Impeachment Lawyer Emmet Flood to Replace Ty Cobb". The New York Times. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 2 May 2018 – via NYTimes.com.
47. Savransky, Rebecca (28 March 2018). "Little-known lawyer to take larger role on Trump defense team: report". The Hill. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
48. Costa, Robert; Dawsey, Josh (19 April 2018). "Giuliani says he is joining Trump's legal team to 'negotiate an end' to Mueller probe". The Washington Post. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
49. Simmons, Christine (4 May 2018). "Citing 'Potential Conflicts,' Greenberg Traurig Says Giuliani on Unpaid Leave". New York Law Journal. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
50. "Who Is Joanna Hendon? Trump's New Lawyer Appears at Michael Cohen Hearing". Newsweek. 13 April 2018.
51. "Joanna C. Hendon – Spears & Imes LLP". Spears & Imes. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
52. "Welcome !". raskinlaw.com. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
53. Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (19 April 2018). "Giuliani to Join Trump's Legal Team". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
54. Evans, Garrett (20 June 2017). "Meet Jay Sekulow, the new face of Trump's legal team". The Hill. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
55. "Marc Kasowitz and Mark Corallo depart Trump's legal team". CBS News. 21 July 2017. Archived from the original on 23 July 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
56. Samuelsohn, Darren (26 July 2017). "Trump's newest Russia lawyer: 'I think very highly' of Mueller". Politico. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
57. Raymond, Adam K. "Report: Trump's Personal Lawyers Don't Have Security Clearance". Daily Intelligencer. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
58. Green, Miranda; de Vogue, Ariane (16 June 2017). "Trump adds lawyer John Dowd to Russia legal team". CNN. Archived from the original on 17 June 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
59. S. Schmidt, Michael; Haberman, Maggie (22 March 2018). "John Dowd Resigns as Trump's Lead Lawyer in Special Counsel Inquiry". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
60. Demick, Barbara (24 May 2017). "Marc Kasowitz helped Trump through bankruptcy and divorce. Now he's taking on the biggest case of his career". The Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
61. "Donald J. Trump on Twitter". Twitter. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018. 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....
62. Lovelace, Ryan (26 March 2018). "White-Collar Pros Weigh Risks, 'Stigma' of Joining Trump Team". The National Law Journal. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
63. Kranish, Michael (6 June 2017). "Trump's legal dream team falters as D.C. heavyweights take a pass". The Washington Post.
64. Isikoff, Michael (6 June 2017). "Four top law firms turned down requests to represent Trump". Yahoo News.
65. Scannell, Carol (15 April 2018). "Another white collar lawyer turns down Trump". CNN.
66. Linsky, Annie (21 April 2018). "Why the most powerful man in the world has struggled to assemble a legal team". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
67. Costa, Robert; Leonnig, Carol D. (20 March 2018). "Star GOP lawyer Theodore B. Olson declines offer to join Trump legal team". The Washington Post.
68. Samuelsohn, Darren (16 April 2018). "Cohen crisis shows short-handed Trump legal team's scramble". Politico.
69. Polantz, Katelyn; Vazquez, Maegan (27 March 2018). "Two more lawyers decline to join Trump legal team". CNN.
70. Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S.; Landler, Mark (25 March 2018). "Trump Won't Hire 2 Lawyers Whose Appointments Were Announced Days Ago". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
71. "Michael Cohen's Lawyer Says His Client Would Never Accept Pardon From 'Corrupt' Trump". NPR. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
72. Samuels, Brett (21 August 2018). "Michael Cohen pleads guilty to eight counts". The Hill. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
73. Samuelsohn, Darren (25 April 2018). "Ex-U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald on Comey's legal team". Politico.
74. Foer, Franklin. "Paul Manafort, American Hustler". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
75. Mangan, Dan (14 August 2018). "Manafort lawyers' decision to rest without calling witnesses could lead to acquittal". CNBC. Retrieved 10 September 2018.