U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz is lawyering up. The Florida Republican who allegedly is under DOJ investigation for possible child sex trafficking and for a possible sexual relationship with a 17 year old has hired two white collar criminal defense attorneys, including one with strong ties to Donald Trump and to the former President’s former attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and one who represented a high-powered Democrat, according to NBC News’ Garrett Haake.
Isabelle Kirshner represented former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who was accused of physically abusing women he was romantically or sexually involved with.
Marc Mukasey for several years has represented Trump, and currently still is, according to a Yahoo News report this week.
Mukasey is the son of Michael Mukasey, the noted former federal prosecutor and Bush 43 U.S. Attorney General. A 2019 Yahoo News report by Hunter Walker and Luppe B. Luppen calls Marc Mukasey “the lawyer at the center of the Trump universe,” and says he “has long-standing professional and personal ties to Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.”
“Marc Mukasey grew up spending holidays with Giuliani and was something of an extended family member to the former New York mayor, who is also one of the president’s closest confidants,” the reports says. “Mukasey told Yahoo News he sees himself as an ’emergency room doctor’ for clients who find themselves on trial.”
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Mukasey has represented “a rogues’ gallery of clients linked to infamous scandals,” including “a top aide to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie during the ‘Bridgegate’ scandal. Mukasey also secured a non-prosecution agreement for a doctor who leaked confidential information to a hedge fund as as part of what the New York Times called ‘the largest insider trading scheme on record,’ and he represented Halliburton, which was contracted by BP, to work on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig prior to the disastrous oil spill disaster there.”
But among Mukasey’s most infamous clients is former Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher who was charged with ten offenses, including allegedly killing a 17-year old ISIS prisoner who was sedated, then posing with his corpse.
In addition to Trump’s attorney, Marc Mukasey, representing Gallagher, Trump personally and very publicly intervened in the legal proceedings, tweeting his support for the Navy SEAL.
Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and denies all the allegations.
NBC News reports a “spokeswoman working for Gaetz outside his congressional office, Erin Elmore of the Logan Circle Group, said Friday that he has hired attorneys to push back against the swirl of allegations.”
“Matt has always been a fighter,” Elmore told NBC News. “A fighter for his constituents, a fighter for the country, and a fighter for the Constitution. He’s going to fight back against the unfounded allegations against him. His legal team, led by Marc Mukasey and Isabelle Kirshner, will take the fight to those trying to smear his name with falsehoods.”
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license