As diGenova spoke about the complaint on Fox that day, an on-screen graphic identified him as a “former U.S. attorney.” But a report by Fox days earlier suggested that Toensing and diGenova were much more than just casual observers.
Fox reported that they had helped Giuliani try to dig up dirt on the Bidens. Toensing asserted in a tweet that the story was “categorically false.”
Trump had considered diGenova and Toensing for a spot on his personal legal team in late March 2018, when Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III was still investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election. But the pair was conflicted out.
Toensing’s clients had included former Trump campaign co-chairman Sam Clovis, informal campaign adviser Erik Prince and former Trump legal team spokesman Mark Corallo.
“However, those conflicts do not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters,” Trump lawyer
Jay Sekulow said when he announced that Toensing and diGenova would not represent Trump in the Mueller probe. “The president looks forward to working with them.”
Parnas also
reportedly aided Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine. And Parnas had worked as a translator for diGenova and Toensing as they represented pro-Russia Ukrainian gas tycoon Dmytro Firtash, who is fighting extradition to the U.S. on bribery charges.
Firtash
has done business with former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, who was convicted last year on federal charges alleging he made false statements and committed a host of financial crimes. Before he joined the Trump campaign, Manafort
made millions consulting for a pro-Russia political party in Ukraine that was supported by Firtash.
Toensing and diGenova set up the first formal meeting between Parnas and another client, conservative columnist John Solomon. Parnas
reportedly helped Solomon push Giuliani’s narrative about Joe and Hunter Biden at The Hill, where Solomon worked at the time. In March 2019, Solomon
included Toensing and diGenova in an email to Parnas with an advance copy of an article he wrote about Ukraine for The Hill. That email, in turn, found its way into a packet of information that Giuliani provided to the State Department in order to discredit the Bidens as part of his campaign.