White House counsel and former chief of staff reportedly hire Quinn Emanuel lawyer in Russia probe
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White House counsel Don McGahn and former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus have reportedly hired a Quinn Emanuel lawyer to advise them in the special counsel’s probe of Russian influence in the election.
William Burck, a partner with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, is the selection, Law360 (sub. req.) reports based on a source familiar with the hiring. The Hill and TPM Muckraker have stories summarizing the Law360 report.
According to Law360, McGahn will be questioned about the May firing of FBI director James Comey, and Priebus will be asked about his knowledge of Donald Trump Jr.’s June 2016 meeting with a Russian lawyer.
Burck is co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel’s Washington, D.C., office and co-chair of the firm’s investigations, government enforcement and white-collar criminal defense practice. He was special counsel and deputy counsel to former President George W. Bush and a former federal prosecutor in New York City.
Politico, meanwhile, reports that White House communications director Hope Hicks has hired lawyer Robert Trout, founder of Trout Cacheris & Janis. The story is based on multiple sources familiar with the hiring.
Hicks is a trusted “inner-circle confidante of the president and his family” who has worked with Trump since before the presidential campaign, according to Politico.
Trout focuses on complex commercial litigation, white-collar criminal defense and agency enforcement actions. He was an associate deputy independent counsel in 1995 and 1996, and is a former attorney in the Justice Department and U.S. Attorney’s office.
The three current and former officials are among six people on a list of potential witnesses in the Russia probe, the Washington Post reported last week in a story based on anonymous sources.
The others on the list are reportedly former press secretary Sean Spicer; McGahn deputy James Burnham; and White House spokesman Josh Raffel, who works closely with Jared Kushner, a key adviser and son-in-law to the president.
