Cabinet officials have explored separate counsel beyond DOJ defense
Trump administration officials from cabinet secretaries to midlevel staffers are hiring personal lawyers to prepare for a potential wave of congressional investigations if Democrats win control of one or both houses of Congress in the November midterms, as the Wall Street Journal reported.
“The calls started sporadically in June and have picked up in frequency since then,” said Judd Stone, co-founder of Stone Hilton, an Austin, Texas-based firm founded by alumni of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office. While the Justice Department will play a leading role defending the administration, Stone said cabinet-level officials and agency heads have been exploring whether they want a lawyer on their side who is working solely in their best interest.
Lawyers say the inquiries signal unease that Democrats will investigate everything from alleged pay-to-play pardons, to the Kennedy Center renovation and the Donald Trump Jr. wedding. The probes, which party leaders have already previewed, could interfere with Trump’s agenda for his remaining two years in office. Administration officials personally face legal, reputational and financial risks if they are roped into those inquiries, Stone and other lawyers said.
Potential clients have shopped for representation both at some of the nation’s top firms and at smaller conservative boutiques that have grown in stature during Trump’s second term. Those include Torridon Law, a Washington, D.C.-based firm whose partners include former Attorney General William Barr and Mike Fragoso, a former chief counsel to Senate GOP leadership. Conflict-of-interest rules mean the same firm is unlikely to be able to represent several staffers simultaneously, so senior officials are scrambling to lock in their preferred counsel before someone else does, according to a prominent lawyer familiar with the situation.
Steve Roberts, a partner at Lex Politica, said the firm catering to conservative clients has been getting calls not just from high-ranking administration officials but also from Fortune 500 companies and startups. “If they have been supportive of this administration, they know there is a possibility that there is a target on their back,” he said.
Susanne Grooms, a partner at Cooley and former chief counsel to the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said the firm with some 1,400 lawyers has also seen an influx in corporate clients looking for advice on how to prepare for potential investigations. Companies that donated to Trump’s projects or did business with the government or the Trump family could be swept up in the probes, she said.
Senior officials, including those in the White House communications and counsel’s offices, began meeting this spring to discuss how to handle congressional investigations into the administration and respond to subpoenas, according to current and former officials. The White House Counsel’s Office has been meeting with agency leaders to discuss best practices, including how to respond to inquiries and anticipate Democrats’ likely investigative strategies. Trump moved Will Scharf, a former prosecutor and the president’s personal attorney, to White House counsel. The White House also chose Katie Bailey, who has experience on House and Senate oversight committees, as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, which coordinates with Capitol Hill.
Officials have publicly played down concerns about losses in November. “The media is obsessed with pushing a false narrative backed by their fake polls of Republicans losing control of the Senate and House. Democrats have no agenda to improve the lives of Americans—their only agenda is to continue their decadelong witch hunt against President Trump,” said White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis.
Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and Senate Committee on the Judiciary have already begun sending letters that provide a road map for what the administration can expect. House members have sent letters to people and entities connected to the administration, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts leadership, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and individuals pardoned by the president. They have also targeted Donald Trump Jr. regarding a Russian oligarch’s reported financing of a wedding celebration.
Lawyers see the letters as precursors for subpoenas and a sign congressional probes will kick off more quickly than when Democrats flipped control of the House during Trump’s first term — potentially as soon as February. “Democrats are much more savvy this time around than the first time,” said Ashley Callen, who co-chairs Jenner & Block’s congressional-investigations practice and formerly served as a legal adviser to House Republican leadership.
Legal costs for staffers who hire personal representation can mount quickly. During the first Trump administration, a Patriot Legal Expense Fund Trust was established to help cover legal expenses associated with Russia probes at the Justice Department and in Congress. Former administration officials told the Journal they were unaware of any similar legal-defense fund this time.
Robert Bittman, who led the Monica Lewinsky probe during the Clinton administration, said he had advised people going into the Trump administration to get professional liability insurance from the outset to cover any personal legal bills.
“On one hand, Trump will be completely prepared for it because of everything he went through in the first term,” said Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s chief of staff during his first administration. “On the other hand—and I think people are missing this—most of his staff has not been through this.”