With President Trump’s relationship with Russia in the news, so are the lawyers tasked with advising and defending him.
Trump’s legal team must navigate questions about campaign finance law, obstruction of justice and other thorny legal areas surrounding the president, especially since his son Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting with a Russian lawyer was exposed last week.
Here are five Trump lawyers you should know.
Kasowitz is Trump’s personal attorney, and as of late May, he’s in charge of representing Trump over matters related to the investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia. He has represented Trump for years, including in divorces, bankruptcy cases and the sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced during the presidential campaign. He’s known for a fiery temper—in a recent email outburst published by ProPublica, Kasowitz told an unidentified person, “”F–k you… And you don’t know me, but I will know you. How dare you send me an email like that. I’m on you now. You are f–king with me now. Let’s see who you are. Watch your back b—h.”
McGahn is the current White House Counsel, the top lawyer tasked with advising the president on legal issues about policies and legislation. But McGahn has been at the center of controversies over Trump’s challenged travel ban, executive orders, and the scandal surrounding former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s tenure in the White House, and Trump handed offresponsibility of Russia-related issues to Kasowitz. Before becoming White House Counsel, McGahn was Trump’s lawyer on the campaign, and he previously served as a commissioner with the Federal Election Commission.
Sekulow is on Trump’s personal legal team advising him on Russia issues, and one of the lawyers who often appears in television hits. On Sunday on ABC, Sekulow said of Donald Trump Jr.’s Russian meeting, “Well, I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in.” The Secret Service responded and said it did not vet the meeting. Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice and hosts his own talk show, and before joining Trump’s team he had spent his legal career representing conservative groups.
Cohen is a personal lawyer, spokesperson and close confidante for Trump. He’s been working for Trump for years, closely enough that he has hired his own lawyer to help him with the Russia probe. He’s known as a particularly aggressive advocate on Trump’s behalf, Trump’s “pit bull or consigliere,” as ABC puts it, for threatening legal action against critics, yelling at reporters and vigorously defending his boss on Twitter.
The newest member of Trump’s legal orbit, Cobb was appointed Saturday as White House special counsel. He’s a former federal prosecutor and a white-collar defense lawyer at the law firm Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. He will now oversee the legal strategy and media response to investigations into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia, the White House told CNN.
