The Joe and Vicki show didn’t test well
by digby
The rumors are that Trump decided not to hire Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing after he met with them in person and didn’t have “chemistry” with them, which is Trumpworld speak for “didn’t like their looks.” So now he’s down to Jay Sekulow defending him on the outside and Ty Cobb working on the Mueller probe from the White House:
In the latest sign of disarray in President Trump’s legal team, a lawyer who he said last week would come on board to help handle his response to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation will no longer be part of the effort.
The lawyer, Joseph diGenova, has often vehemently defended the president on Fox News and cast the Mueller probe as a conspiracy against him. Trump enjoyed the TV appearances and wanted diGenova on his team even though he did not know him, officials say.
But in a statement on Sunday, a spokesman for Trump’s legal team said both diGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, who is also a lawyer, would not be working on the Russia probe.
“The President is disappointed that conflicts prevent Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing from joining his Special Counsel legal team,” said Jay Sekulow, counsel to Trump. “However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the President in other legal matters. The President looks forward to working with them.”
[Trump has trouble finding attorneys as top Russia lawyer leaves legal team]
Trump met with di Genova in person on Thursday after his hire was announced. Three days later, diGenova’s hiring has unraveled.
Trump’s legal team has now shrunk to two: Ty Cobb, a White House lawyer who does not personally represent the president and occasionally draws grumbles from him, and Sekulow, an outside conservative attorney and radio host.
John Dowd, who was Trump’s top attorney handling the Russia probe, resigned Thursday morning amid strategy disputes with the president.
He had been Trump’s main point of contact with Mueller’s office and had been helping to negotiate the terms for an interview between the president and Mueller’s team as it examines whether Trump obstructed justice by seeking to shut down the investigation.
Trump had not closely researched di Genova or even consulted with top aides, including Chief of Staff John F. Kelly and White House counsel Donald McGahn, before hiring him.
Trump had hoped diGenova could serve as a surrogate in television interviews and play the role of attack dog in criticizing the Mueller probe.
You have to love that he’s calling lawyers greedy and that he’s not hiring anyone for the good of the country.
Has Trump’s manic phase run its course for the moment? I guess we’ll find out if he settles down for a little while and doesn’t fire anyone or start a war.
On the other hand, a storm(y) is gathering …
.