The Jan. 6 select committee repeatedly raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest by some of the lawyers representing crucial witnesses in their investigation — particularly those paid by Trump-friendly entities.
The concerns were brought into sharp relief during their late-November interview with Wisconsin State House Speaker Robin Vos, a Republican who declined to answer any questions on how he came to be represented by Edward Greim, a Federalist Society-affiliated lawyer who also represented at least six other committee witnesses.
In a tense exchange with the panel’s vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Greim told Vosin his interview not to answer Cheney’s questions about legal representation. “The committee has no business knowing that, has no business inquiring into this,” Greim interceded.
The committee investigators highlighted their unresolved questions about witness representation in their final report but left ultimate judgment about potential conflicts or witness evasiveness to the public.
POLITICO reviewed the nearly 300 witness transcripts released by the Jan. 6 select committee to identify the lawyers most frequently tapped by the panel’s witnesses. Here’s what we found:
Frequently tapped attorneys
Lawyers from a small handful of firms each represented five or more of the select committee’s witnesses. They are:
David Warrington and Michael Columbo (The Dhillon Law Group): Attorneys David Warrington, Michael Columbo and several others represented 11 of the panel’s witnesses, including several central figures in the probe.
Among them was Donald Trump himself, who fought a committee subpoena in court. Others included former national security adviser Michael Flynn, Trump White House personnel adviser Johnny McEntee, Trump political adviser Katrina Pierson, “Stop the Steal” rally organizers Amy and Kylie Kremer, and Trump election day operations director Michael Roman.
Other witnesses: Laura Cox, Zach Parkinson, Kathy Berden and Charles Bowman.
Daniel Benson and Jonathan Gonzales (Kasowitz Benson), eight clients: This New York-based firm, which has counted Trump as a client in the past, represented key figures from the Trump White House, including adviser Eric Herschmann, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner. Ivanka Trump’s chief of staff Julie Radford and aide Rachel Craddock were also repped by the firm. Two of Trump’s Oval Office aides, Molly Michael and Austin Ferrer, employed Kasowitz Benson as well. Trump campaign lawyer Alex Cannon was also a client
Stefan Passantino and (Michael Best), seven clients: Passantino represented Cassidy Hutchinson, who later switched lawyers and accused him of trying to suppress crucial information — an accusation he and his allies dispute. Passantino also represented Beau Harrison, a Trump White House aide present for some of the same exchanges that Hutchinson described, Trump campaign adviser Joshua Findlay and John Isakson, who dropped out of Trump’s effort to solicit false electoral college certificates in Georgia.
Other witnesses: Madixon Fox Porter, Jacqueline Kotkiewicz, Douglas Sellers
Ed Greim and Paul Brothers (Graves Garrett), seven clients: Witnesses represented by this Missouri-based firm include Vos, Trump Justice Department aide Ken Klukowski, Trump White House official Bobby Peede and Jan. 6 rally organizer Justin Caporale.
Other witnesses: Robert Gabriel, Arina Grossu, Angela McCallum
Todd Steggerda and Emily Kelley (McGuire Woods), eight clients: These attorneys primarily represent figures connected to the Republican National Committee, including Chair Ronna McDaniel and her chief of staff Richard Walters.
Other witnesses: Hanna Allred, Austin Boedigheimer, Kevin Zambrano, Mike Reed, Michael Ahrens and Cassie Docksey.
Robert Driscoll and Alfred Carry (McGlinchey Firm), five clients: McGlinchey’s clients all played notable roles in the select committee’s investigation. They included Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller, Georgia GOP Chair David Shafer, Georgia pro-Trump alternate elector Shawn Still, former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne.
Unrepresented witnesses
Nearly three-dozen witnesses opted to appear before the select committee without personal counsel. They included Oath Keepers adviser Kellye SoRelle, Proud Boy George Meza, D.C. Police commander Robert Glover, former Melania Trump chief of staff Stephanie Grisham, and Proud Boys documentarian Nick Quested. Most of these witnesses were cooperative and not combative with investigators. Many of them were current or former government officials, who appeared alongside agency counsel. Those include Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and former acting U.S. attorney for Washington D.C. Michael Sherwin.
Other notable attorneys
Emmet Flood, who was in the Trump White House counsel’s office amid the Mueller investigation, represented two witnesses — Kellyanne Conway and Marc Short. William Burck, a mainstay of earlier Trump-focused congressional probes, represented Mike Pompeo. John Rowley and John Irving represented Cleta Mitchell and Rep. Scott Perry. Charles Burnham represented John Eastman and Jeffrey Clark. George Terwilliger represented Mark Meadows, and his son Zach Terwilliger represented at least two other White House figures: Kayleigh McEnany and Amy Swonger.
Timothy Parlatore, who like Rowley represents Trump in Jan. 6 matters before the federal grand jury, represented two key witnesses before the committee: Doug Mastriano and Bernard Kerik. Joseph McBride, an incendiary attorney who represents several Jan. 6 riot defendants, appeared on behalf of committee witnesses Alexander Bruesewitz and Ali Alexander. A.B. Culvahouse represented Greg Jacob, and Robert Costello represented Rudy Giuliani.
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By: Kyle Cheney and Nicholas Wu
Title: Who repped who in the Jan. 6 probe: A look at the frequently used witness lawyers
Sourced From: www.politico.com/news/2023/01/06/jan-6-probe-witness-lawyers-00076779
Published Date: Fri, 06 Jan 2023 13:26:05 EST
