Pence retains outside legal aid, amid special counsel investigation
Vice President Mike Pence has retained outside counsel, his office confirmed, as scrutiny of the White House intensifies.
"I can confirm that the vice president has retained Richard Cullen of McGuireWoods to assist him in responding to inquiries by the special counsel," Jarrod Agen, communications director for Pence's office, told CBS News. "The vice president is focused entirely on his duties and promoting the president('s) agenda and looks forward to a swift conclusion of this matter."
Pence's outside counsel selection process has been going on for weeks, and there was no singular event that prompted his decision to hire an outside lawyer. He chose Cullen earlier this week, after interviewing several candidates.
Cullen is the chairman of McGuireWoods LLP, and a senior litigation partner there. He has defended large corporations in Department of Justice investigations, and served as Virginia's attorney general in the late 1990s. He was also the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia during former President George W. Bush's administration. Cullen aided Bush's legal team during the recount of the 2000 election in Florida. Cullen was also on the staff of former Rep. M Caldwell Butler, R-Virginia, who was a freshman congressman when he voted to impeach then-President Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office is gathering evidence about whether President Trump or anyone in his administration tried to end the investigation into Michael Flynn as part of the investigation into Russian election meddling and any ties between Russians and the Trump campaign, according to a Wednesday Washington Post report.
While James Comey was FBI director, he told Mr. Trump he was not personally under investigation when the president asked him, but that applied only to the period preceding his May 9 firing.
Mr. Trump has retained his own private legal counsel, as Mueller goes forward with the "witch hunt" Russia probe, as the president has described it.
Pence has said very little publicly about the probe.
CBS News' Arden Farhi contributed to this report