Todd Blanche Puts Dmitry Firtash's Onetime Lawyer In Charge of Criminalizing the Russian Investigation

Key Points:

• Todd Blanche, previously an attorney for figures linked to pro-Russian Ukrainian interests and Trump associates, has appointed Joe DiGenova to oversee an investigation into John Brennan and alleged conspiracies against Donald Trump.
• DiGenova has a controversial history, including publicly supporting theories that the Russia investigation was a plot against Trump and making threatening remarks towards officials like Christopher Krebs, raising questions about his impartiality.
• Both DiGenova and his spouse Victoria Toensing were deeply involved in efforts connected to the 2019 Trump impeachment, including attempts to discredit the Mueller investigation and to frame Joe Biden through ties with Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash and others.
• Evidence from warrants and testimonies suggests that Toensing, DiGenova, and associates sought to leverage Ukrainian connections to obtain damaging information on the Bidens while pressuring Attorney General Bill Barr to drop charges against Firtash, indicating a politically motivated influence-peddling scheme.
• The appointment of DiGenova to lead this new investigation, alongside moves to declassify sensitive intelligence documents, signals a shift from a genuine criminal inquiry to a politically charged effort potentially aimed at undermining counterintelligence investigations related to Russia and Ukraine.