WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump is restructuring his legal team with lawyers more at home in a courtroom than a television studio as he shifts from dealing with Special Counsel Robert Mueller to battling Democratic-led investigations in the U.S. Congress.
"Kudos to the judge if he managed not to burst out laughing in open court at this," George Conway, a prominent conservative lawyer and frequent Trump critic, wrote on Twitter. Conway is married to Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway. The Trump Organization, the president's company, has its own lawyers in the subpoena fights. They include Mukasey, a criminal defense lawyer in Manhattan and former Giuliani law partner whose father Michael Mukasey served as U.S. attorney general from 2007 to 2009 under Republican President George W. Bush, and Passantino, a former lawyer in Trump's White House who is now at a law firm.
Consovoy and Strawbridge lack the experience and name recognition of such veterans. But people who have worked with them said they will be effective advocates for Trump. "I don't think Obama had any lawyer who was doing what a number of lawyers seem to be doing for Trump," Tobias said, noting that Trump's need for outside legal help stems in part from the issues faced by a businessman who serves as president.
Trump also engaged in a public relations campaign featuring Sekulow and Giuliani - both experienced in television appearances - to influence public opinion of Mueller's investigation into the Trump campaign's contacts with Moscow and the president's attempts to impede the inquiry.