23 June, 2017
According to the Washington Post, Vice President Mike Pence has retained outside counsel to handle inquiries related to special counsel Robert Mueller's Russian Federation probe.
Pence communications director Jarrod Agen confirmed Thursday that Pence hired Richard Cullen, former US attorney who is chairman of McGuire Woods, a Washington-based law firm.
Cullen previously served as Virginia attorney general and USA attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen confirmed the hire and said the Vice President wants a "swift" resolution. He is now the chairman and a senior litigation partner at the law firm McGuireWoods LLP in Richmond, Virginia.
IN republicans said Pence's role at the fundraiser focused in part on the president's agenda.
Mueller was named by Rosenstein on May 17 to lead the Russian Federation investigation as a special counsel, a position created to conduct investigations when a normal Justice Department probe would present a conflict of interest.
A staunch defender of President Donald Trump who's been a willing foot soldier and proponent of his polices might also be feeling the heat.
Richard Cullen has a long record as a high-profile attorney in Washington, particularly in Republican circles.
President Trump, who has dismissed the investigations as a "witch hunt", has already retained his own attorney, Marc Kasowitz.
Cullen worked on President George W. Bush's legal team during the Florida recount in the 2000 presidential election.
Vice President Mike Pence said his hiring of a private attorney to deal with the Russian Federation probe is "very routine".
Amid reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is also looking into whether Trump tried to obstruct justice, several White House aides are expected to be contacted by his team and are in the process of "lawyering up". As head of the Trump campaign's transition committee, he was involved in the hiring of Michael Flynn as national security adviser.
That hasn't stopped Trump from complaining publicly about the probe. His assessment, Cornyn said, includes the testimony last week by Comey, who said he presumed he was sacked because of Trump's concerns about the FBI's handling of the Russian probe.
