Victoria Toensing

Victoria Ann Toensing (née Long; born October 16, 1941) is an American attorney, Republican Party operative and partner with her husband, Joseph diGenova, in the Washington law firm diGenova & Toensing.[4][5] The couple reportedly have worked with Rudy Giuliani and Ukrainian interests in support of President Donald Trump.[6][7][5] Toensing and her husband frequently appear on Fox News and Fox Business.[8]

"Toensing" redirects here. For other people and similar names, see Toensing (surname).

Victoria Toensing
Born
Victoria Ann Long

(1941-10-16) October 16, 1941[1]
Colón, Panama
EducationIndiana University, Bloomington (BS)
University of Detroit (JD)
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)
Trent Toensing
(
m. 1962)
[2]
(
m. 1981)
[3]
Children3, including Amy Toensing Todd Toensing and Brady Toensing

Early life and education

Toensing graduated from Indiana University in 1962 with a degree in education. She taught high-school English until she entered law school, earning a J.D. from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1975.[9][7]

She joined the U.S. attorney’s office in Detroit, where she prosecuted narcotics cases.[7]

In 1981, Toensing became chief counsel to Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence,[10] where she helped draft the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982.

News and politics

Reagan administration

Toensing was a deputy assistant attorney general in the Justice Department during the Reagan administration. She led a counterterrorist investigation into the 15 May Organization for the bombing and attempted bombing of two Pan Am jets in 1982.[9]

Clinton investigations

DiGenova and Toensing started their law firm, diGenova & Toensing, in January 1996.[7][4]

Emily Bazelon of Slate.com has called Toensing "a blanketer of the airwaves about the tawdriness of the Lewinsky affair."[10] Toensing and her husband made regular appearances on television claiming that they were the target of investigations by the Clinton Administration.[11]

Regarding their role in the 1998 House of Representatives Teamsters investigation, Rep. Bill Clay, a Missouri Democrat, said, "They've become a public spectacle, which means they can't be impartial." "It's a payoff from Newt Gingrich and the Republican Party to both Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova.... They have been on television over 200 times and not once have they been talking about an issue we're paying them $25,000 a month to handle for the Congress. It's a hell of a part-time job."[12]

The WISH List

Toensing was a founder and board member of The WISH List, a PAC seeking to elect pro-choice Republican women to public office.[13] The PAC was inspired by EMILY's List, a pro-choice Democratic PAC, and Toensing advocated for a "big tent" Republican Party that includes both pro-life and pro-choice members.[14]

Valerie Plame investigation

Toensing was a frequent Republican commentator in the media during the Plame Affair, a political scandal that led to the conviction of Scooter Libby, assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney.[15][16] The scandal involved the public outing of Valerie Plame as a CIA agent, shortly after Plame's husband, former diplomat Joseph C. Wilson, wrote an op-ed in 2003 alleging that the Bush Administration manipulated intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.[17][18] In March 2005, Toensing submitted an amicus curiae brief in support of Matt Cooper and Judith Miller, two journalists who were subpoenaed in the Plame investigation for refusing to reveal information obtained from confidential sources. In the brief, she "argued that the law couldn't have been broken when Valerie Plame's cover as a CIA agent was blown because her status wasn't really covert."[10] She also contended that Ms. Plame did not have a cover to be blown, citing a July 23, 2004, article in The Washington Times that argued that Valerie Plame's status as an undercover CIA agent may have been known to Russian and Cuban intelligence operations prior to the article (by Robert Novak) that revealed her status as a CIA employee.

In April 2018, Toensing represented Scooter Libby at the time when President Trump pardoned him.[19] Libby, the assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney, had been convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury in 2007 regarding the leak of Plame's identity.[16]

2008 election

Toensing supported former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson in the Republican primaries for the 2008 presidential election.[10]

Trump investigations

On March 19, 2018, Toensing and her husband, diGenova, were hired by President Donald Trump to serve on his legal team for the Special Counsel investigation.[20][21] DiGenova served as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1983 to 1988.[22][23] However, Trump cancelled the hires several days later due to potential conflicts of interest.[24]

Toensing represents Mark Corallo, who had previously served as a spokesman for Trump's private legal team during the investigation into possible collusion between members of Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russian government.[25][26] Robert Mueller interviewed Corallo as part of the Special Counsel investigation.[27][28]

Toensing has also represented Sam Clovis, a former Trump campaign co-chair, and Erik Prince, the founder of the private military company Blackwater, who has informally advised Trump.[23]

Toensing has become connected to the Trump–Ukraine scandal in hiring Lev Parnas, a colleague of Rudy Giuliani, to serve as a translator for the defense of oligarch Dmytro Firtash, one of the wealthiest Ukrainians, who is fighting extradition to the U.S. to face bribery charges. Firtash has lived in Vienna, Austria for five years. “Mr. Parnas was retained by DiGenova & Toensing, LLP as an interpreter in order to communicate with their client Mr. Firtash, who does not speak English,” the firm said in a statement.[29]

She was further tied to the scandal when documents from Lev Parnas were entered into record for the Trump impeachment hearing, including a letter from Rudy Giuliani asking to meet with then President-Elect Volodymyr Zelensky which stated that Giuliani would "be accompanied by my colleague Victoria Toensing, a distinguished American attorney who is very familiar with this matter."[30] This meeting was where he had intended to urge Zelensky to pursue inquiries into Hunter Biden, as well as whether Democrats colluded with Ukrainians to release information about Manafort, but it was cancelled by Giuliani saying he was a victim of spin by the Democrats.[31][32]

Personal life

Toensing has been married twice. In 1962, she wed Trent Toensing.[33] In 1981, she married current husband, Joseph diGenova.[34] diGenova and Toensing are partners in the eponymous Washington, D.C. law firm.[35]

Toensing has three children from her first marriage, including Todd Toensing of Jericho, Vermont; Amy Toensing, a photojournalist;[36] and Brady Toensing, who joined the Justice Department in June 2019 as senior counsel in its Office of Legal Policy.[37][38] Formerly, Brady Toensing was vice chair of the Vermont Republican Party, as well as a high-profile and controversial Vermont lawyer, and partner in his mother's and step-father's law firm.[35][39][40] The Justice Department has said that Brady Toensing is recused from matters involving the diGenova & Toensing law firm, including the Trump–Ukraine scandal.[41] He is said to be helping to choose judicial nominees for President Trump.[41]

gollark: Who's Tom Hanks?
gollark: Oh, cool.
gollark: People would get suspicious.
gollark: Obviously we had to backfill the memories.
gollark: No, you are the leader of UCorp™.

References
  1. "Trump's legal team in flux as he reverses decision to hire controversial pair". Politico. March 25, 2018.
  2. "Long Toensing Wedding". The Republic. October 22, 1962. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  3. "Love is cause for a rally". Detroit Free Press. March 26, 1981. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  4. "Victoria Toensing". DiGenova & Toensing, LLP Washington, DC. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  5. Schreckinger, Ben. "Ukraine scandal ropes in Clinton-era GOP operatives". POLITICO. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  6. "Fox News claims scoop that was buried in a New York Times story months ago". Washington Post. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  7. Marcus, Ilana; Eaton, Joshua; Marcus, Ilana; Eaton, Joshua (November 12, 2019). "The Vicki & Joe Show: D.C. power couple hit airwaves as impeachment inquiry moves forward". Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  8. "Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing have made over 90 appearances on Fox in 2019". Media Matters for America. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  9. Emerson, Steven (April 21, 1991). "Capture of a Terrorist". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
  10. Bazelon, Emily (November 26, 2007). "On the Advice of Counsel". Slate.
  11. Kurtz, Howard (February 27, 1998). "The Power Couple at Scandal's Vortex". The Washington Post.
  12. Kurtz, Howard (February 27, 1998). "The Power Couple at Scandal's Vortex". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
  13. Toensing, Victoria (November 29, 2012). "Pro-choice Republicans have a place in the party". The Washington Post.
  14. "Abortion Rights Group in GOP May Oppose Dornan : Politics: Former O.C. Superior Court Judge Judith M. Ryan is planning to challenge the 7-term congressman". Los Angeles Times. March 5, 1992. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  15. "Karl Rove, the Law and the Plame Investigation". NPR.org. Retrieved October 17, 2019.
  16. Lewis, Neil A. (March 6, 2007). "Libby Guilty of Lying in C.I.A. Leak Case". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  17. Wilson 4th, Joseph C. (July 6, 2003). "Opinion | What I Didn't Find in Africa". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  18. "Envoy Says Leak Endangers CIA Wife". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  19. Swanson, Ian (April 13, 2018). "Trump pardons Scooter Libby, saying he was 'treated unfairly'". The Hill. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  20. Brooke Singman (March 23, 2018). "Victoria Toensing joins husband Joseph diGenova on Trump's legal team in Russia probe". Fox News. Retrieved March 24, 2018.
  21. Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (March 19, 2018). "Trump May Reshuffle Legal Team to Take On Mueller More Aggressively". WRAL-TV. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  22. LaFraniere, Sharon (February 29, 1988). "Digenova's Legacy". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  23. Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (March 19, 2018). "Trump Hires Lawyer Who Has Pushed Theory That Justice Dept. Framed the President". The New York Times. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  24. Dawsey, Josh; Leonnig, Carol D.; Wagner, John (March 25, 2018). "In another blow to Trump's efforts to combat Russia probe, diGenova will no longer join legal team". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  25. Haberman, Maggie; Landler, Mark; Schmidt, Michael S. (March 25, 2018). "Trump Won't Hire 2 Lawyer Whose Appointments Were Announced Days Ago". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  26. Seipel, Brooke (July 20, 2017). "Trump legal team spokesman resigns: report". The Hill. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  27. Balhaus, Rebecca (January 30, 2018). "Mueller Seeks Interview With Ex-Spokesman for Trump's Legal Team". The Wall Street Journal. Special counsel Robert Mueller is seeking an interview with Mark Corallo, the former spokesman for President Donald Trump’s legal team, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, in what would be the first contact between the Special Counsel and a onetime member of the president’s personal legal team.
  28. Woodruff, Betsy (February 16, 2018). "Mueller Has Interviewed Trump Legal Team's Former Spokesman". The Daily Beast. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  29. NY Post, "A Giuliani associate also worked for indicted Ukrainian oligarch", Oct 11, 2019
  30. https://intelligence.house.gov/uploadedfiles/20200114_-_hpsci_transmittal_letter_to_hjc_-_new_evidence_attachment.pdf
  31. Vogel, Kenneth P. (May 11, 2019). "Rudy Giuliani Cancels His Trip to Ukraine, Blaming Democrats' 'Spin'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 11, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  32. Dawsey, Josh; Sonne, Paul; Kranish, Michael; Stern, David L. (September 20, 2019). "How Trump and Giuliani pressured Ukraine to investigate the president's rivals". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 21, 2019. Retrieved September 29, 2019.
  33. "The Republic from Columbus, Indiana on October 22, 1962 · Page 7". Newspapers.com.
  34. "Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan on March 26, 1981 · Page 17". Newspapers.com.
  35. "diGenova & Toensing". www.digenovatoensing.com.
  36. "Amy Toensing – The Photo Society". thephotosociety.org.
  37. "To win Giuliani's help, oligarch's allies pursued Biden dirt". Detroit News. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  38. Galloway, Anne; Jun 10 2019June 11, Colin Meyn; Footnotes, 2019 | 8 Reader (June 10, 2019). "Toensing tapped by U.S. Department of Justice; resigns as GOP vice chair". VTDigger. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  39. "Lawyer behind Sanders' allegations has history of complaints | Boston.com". www.boston.com.
  40. Dobbs, Taylor. "Vermont GOP Vice Chair Brady Toensing Lands a Job at Department of Justice". Seven Days. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  41. Friedman, Dan. "The Justice Department hired the son of a vocal Trump defender". Mother Jones. Retrieved October 19, 2019.
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