--- title: Donald Trump: Russia Scandal Draws Legal Team description: With President Trump's relationship with Russia in the news, so are the lawyers tasked with advising and defending him. canonical: https://time.com/4860988/donald-trump-lawyers-russia-list/ author: Tessa Berenson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-07-17T17:30:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:40.624Z article:section: Politics og:title: Meet the 5 Key Lawyers Advising Trump on the Russia Scandal og:description: One represented him in his divorce. og:url: https://time.com/4860988/donald-trump-lawyers-russia-list/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac314dfbb8f9e07b/6988d57a656a3f7987bd0cc5/gettyimages-810723334.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4725 og:image:height: 2658 og:image:alt: Ivanka Trump At Womens Entrepreneurship Facility Launch og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Meet the 5 Key Lawyers Advising Trump on the Russia Scandal twitter:description: One represented him in his divorce. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac314dfbb8f9e07b/6988d57a656a3f7987bd0cc5/gettyimages-810723334.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Meet the 5 Key Lawyers Advising President Trump on the Russia Scandal > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 17, 2017 5:30 PM UTC  U.S. President, Donald Trump attends a panel discussion titled 'Launch Event Women's Entrepreneur Finance Initiative' on the second day of the G20 summit on July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. U.S. President, Donald Trump attends a panel discussion titled 'Launch Event Women's Entrepreneur Finance Initiative' on the second day of the G20 summit on July 8, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. Ukas Michael— Pool/Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Jul 17, 2017 5:30 PM UTC With President Trump’s relationship with Russia in the news, so are the lawyers tasked with advising and defending him. Trump’s legal team must navigate questions about campaign finance law, obstruction of justice and other [thorny legal areas](http://time.com/4854592/donald-trump-jr-russia-email-laws/) surrounding the president, especially since his son Donald Trump Jr.’s [meeting with a Russian lawyer](http://time.com/4852998/donald-trump-jr-russia-lawyer-emails/?xid=homepage) was exposed last week. Here are five Trump lawyers you should know.  Marc Kasowitz personal attorney of President Donald Trump makes a statement at the National Press Club, following the congressional testimony of former FBI Director James Comey in Washington, June 8, 2017. Manuel Balce Ceneta—AP **Marc Kasowitz** Kasowitz is Trump’s personal attorney, and as of late May, he’s in charge of representing Trump over matters related to the investigations into his campaign’s ties to Russia. He [has represented Trump for year](http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-kasowitz-20170524-story.html)s, including in divorces, bankruptcy cases and the sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced during the presidential campaign. He’s known for a fiery temper—in a recent [email outburst ](http://time.com/4857744/marc-kasowitz-donald-trump-email-threat/?iid=sr-link4)published by ProPublica, Kasowitz told an unidentified person, “”F–k you… And you don’t know me, but I will know you. How dare you send me an email like that. I’m on you now. You are f–king with me now. Let’s see who you are. Watch your back b—h.”  Attorney Donald McGahn leaves the Four Seasons hotel in New York, June 9, 2016, after a GOP fundraiser. Mary Altaffer—AP **Don McGahn** McGahn is the current [White House Counsel,](http://time.com/4700311/donald-trump-white-house-counsel-steve-bannon/?iid=sr-link1) the top lawyer tasked with advising the president on legal issues about policies and legislation. But McGahn has been at the center of controversies over Trump’s challenged travel ban, executive orders, and the scandal surrounding former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s tenure in the White House, and Trump[ handed off](http://www.politico.com/story/2017/06/23/trump-don-mcgahn-white-house-counsel-russia-239876) responsibility of Russia-related issues to Kasowitz. Before becoming White House Counsel, McGahn was Trump’s lawyer on the campaign, and he previously served as a commissioner with the Federal Election Commission.  Jay Sekulow, far right, Chief Counsel American Center for Law and Justice, testifies at the House subcommittee on Economic Growth subcommittee's hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 6, 2014, to investigate the Justice Department's investigation into the IRS abuse scandal. Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP **Jay Sekulow** Sekulow is on Trump’s personal legal team advising him on Russia issues, and one of the lawyers who often appears in television hits. On Sunday on ABC, Sekulow [said](http://time.com/4860286/trump-jr-russia-secret-service-vetting/) of Donald Trump Jr.’s Russian meeting, “Well, I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in.” The Secret Service responded and said it did not vet the meeting. Sekulow is Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law & Justice and hosts his own talk show, and before joining Trump’s team he had spent his legal career representing conservative groups.  Michael Cohen, an attorney for Donald Trump, arrives in Trump Tower in New York on Dec. 16, 2016. Richard Drew—AP **Michael Cohen** Cohen is a personal lawyer, spokesperson and close confidante for Trump. He’s been working for Trump for years, closely enough that he has [hired his own lawyer](http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/338139-trumps-personal-lawyer-hires-attorney-report) to help him with the Russia probe. He’s known as a particularly aggressive advocate on Trump’s behalf, Trump’s “pit bull or consigliere,” [as ABC puts it](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/russia-investigation-expands-include-donald-trumps-personal-attorney/story?id=47646601), for threatening legal action against critics, yelling at reporters and vigorously defending his boss on Twitter.  Corporate attorney Ty Cobb in the offices of his law firm, Hogan & Hartson, Jan. 16, 2004. Jerry Cleveland—The Denver Post/Getty Images **Ty Cobb** The newest member of Trump’s legal orbit, Cobb was appointed Saturday as White House special counsel. He’s a former federal prosecutor and a white-collar defense lawyer at the law firm Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C. He will now oversee the legal strategy and media response to investigations into the Trump campaign’s alleged collusion with Russia, the White House [told CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/15/politics/who-is-ty-cobb-white-house-special-counsel/index.html). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4860988/donald-trump-lawyers-russia-list/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4860988/donald-trump-lawyers-russia-list/"},"headline":"Meet the 5 Key Lawyers Advising President Trump on the Russia Scandal","datePublished":"2017-07-17T17:30:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:40.624Z","description":"One represented him in his divorce","url":"https://time.com/4860988/donald-trump-lawyers-russia-list/","keywords":["White House","russia","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac314dfbb8f9e07b/6988d57a656a3f7987bd0cc5/gettyimages-810723334.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltac314dfbb8f9e07b/6988d57a656a3f7987bd0cc5/gettyimages-810723334.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Ivanka Trump At Womens Entrepreneurship Facility Launch","caption":"Ivanka Trump At Womens Entrepreneurship Facility Launch","creditText":"Ukas Michael— Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4860988/donald-trump-lawyers-russia-list/","name":"Meet the 5 Key Lawyers Advising President Trump on the Russia Scandal"}}]}] ```