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By BREANNE DEPPISCH, US SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER
Published: | Updated:
Trump administration officials are scrambling to hire lawyers to prepare for a potential onslaught of congressional investigations next year, should Democrats retake the House or Senate in the fast-approaching midterm elections.
These individuals range from Cabinet secretaries to mid-level agency staffers within the Trump administration, the Wall Street Journal reports - all of whom are bracing for a potential onslaught of investigations from Democrats.
The report comes as Democrats on the House Oversight Committee and Senate Judiciary Committee have already sent a flurry of letters to Trump administration officials and others in the president's inner circle in recent months, providing an early sign as to what the probes might entail.
Though the Justice Department would play the leading role in defending administration officials, lawyers familiar with the situation told the Wall Street Journal that these individuals are weighing the benefits of hiring a lawyer who would be working to represent their own best interests, as opposed to interests of the administration as a whole.
The result is, apparently, a time-sensitive scramble for counsel.
One lawyer familiar with the situation told the outlet that officials are 'scrambling' to lock in their preferred counsel or firm now, with an eye towards conflict-of-interest rules would likely bar a firm from representing two staffers at the same time.
President Donald Trump's top allies are lawyering up ahead of the midterms, in the event Democrats retake controll of the House or Senate
FBI Director Kash Patel testifies before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight. Trump administration officials, wary of being called before a Democrat-led panel to testify, are hiring their own lawyers in the run-up to the November midterms
The Kennedy Center renovation is one effort Democrats appear intent on questioning Trump allies about, should they retake control of one or both chambers of Congress
The White House, for its part, disputed those reports, telling the outlet that 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,' White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis said in a statement.
Still, the administration has also been prepping for potential defense, post-midterms, with some recent hires of its own.
President Donald Trump recently moved Will Scharf, his former personal lawyer, to serve as White House counsel.
The administration also tapped Katie Bailey to serve as director of the Office of Legislative Affairs.