Former Manafort associate facing extradition to the U.S. hires legal team with ties to Trump


One of Paul Manafort's former business partners, billionaire Ukrainian energy magnate Dmitry Firtash, has added two lawyers to his team, and their faces are very familiar to avid Fox News viewers.
Firtash has hired Victoria Toensing and Joseph diGenova, a husband and wife who frequently pop up on the network in support of President Trump, Bloomberg reports. They were both vocal critics of former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and were briefly hired by Trump last year to join his legal team working on special counsel matters. Shortly after they signed on, Trump's attorney Jay Sekulow said that due to conflicts, they were being dropped, but that did "not prevent them from assisting the president in other legal matters."
The Justice Department has been trying to extradite Firtash to Chicago for several years; in 2013, he was charged after allegedly bribing officials in India to get access to titanium mines in the country, and in June, Austria's Supreme Court ruled the extradition could go through.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Before Manafort was Trump's campaign manager, he joined forces with Firtash and Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska to buy Manhattan's Drake Hotel in 2008. The plan was to turn the property into a luxury building, but this never materialized. Manafort was indicted as part of the special counsel's investigation, and Firtash's lawyer Dan Webb has said his client did not cooperate with Mueller's probe. Manafort is now in prison, after being found guilty of fraud and other charges.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Jack Draper: can Britain's Wimbledon hopeful unseat Carlos Alcaraz?
In the Spotlight 'Volcano of emotion' smashes his racket during defeat in Queen's semi-final but world No.4 shows 'fighting spirit'
-
Crossword: June 23, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
-
How far would Russia go for Iran?
Today's Big Question US air strikes represent an 'embarrassment, provocation and opportunity' all rolled into one for Vladimir Putin
-
Trump's LA deployment in limbo after court rulings
Speed Read Judge Breyer ruled that Trump's National Guard deployment to Los Angeles was an 'illegal' overreach. But a federal appellate court halted the ruling.
-
Marines, National Guard in LA can detain Americans
speed read The troops have been authorized to detain anyone who interferes with immigration raids
-
Trump vows 'very big force' against parade protesters
Speed Read The parade, which will shut down much of the capital, will celebrate the US Army's 250th anniversary and Trump's 79th birthday
-
Smithsonian asserts its autonomy from Trump
speed read The DC institution defied Trump's firing of National Portrait Gallery Director Kim Sajet
-
Trump sends Marines to LA, backs Newsom arrest
speed read California Gov. Gavin Newsom is filing lawsuits in response to Trump's escalation of the federal response to ICE protests
-
Trump foists National Guard on unwilling California
speed read Protests erupted over ICE immigration raids in LA county
-
Supreme Court lowers bar in discrimination cases
speed read The court ruled in favor of a white woman who claimed she lost two deserved promotions to gay employees
-
Trump-Musk relationship implodes in taunts, threats
speed read Musk said Trump's multitrillion bill would cause a recession and accused the president of involvement with Jeffrey Epstein