US Vice President Mike Pence has hired a personal lawyer to deal with requests from the special counsel investigating possible collusion with Russia during the 2016 election, a top aide said Thursday.
"The Vice President has retained Richard Cullen of McGuire Woods to assist him in responding to inquiries by the special counsel," Pence communications director Jared Agen said in a statement.
"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 announcement comes after several weeks of deliberations, featuring several candidates, an administration official said, adding that no taxpayer money will be used.
A final decision was made to hire Cullen earlier this week.
Cullen, who has experience litigating the Iran-Contra investigation, Watergate and the 2000 vote recount in Florida, is a former US attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Pence's move follows a decision by President Donald Trump to hire outside counsel Marc Kasowitz and could signal the investigation is entering a new phase.
Amid reports that special counsel Robert Mueller is also looking into whether Trump tried to obstruct justice, several White House aides are expected to be contacted by his team and are in the process of "lawyering up."
'Single greatest WITCH HUNT'
President Donald Trump responded angrily to reports he is under criminal investigation Thursday, deriding a "witch hunt" against him led by some "very bad" people.
Trump responded to reports he is personally being investigated for obstruction of justice with a characteristic scorched earth defense: claiming mistreatment of historic proportions and calling into question the probity of his accusers.
"You are witnessing the single greatest WITCH HUNT in American political history - led by some very bad and conflicted people!" Trump said, in an early morning tweet.
Trump did not directly address the allegations that he is being probed for possibly obstructing justice, a potentially impeachable offense. Nor did he deny he has entered the miniscule ranks of sitting presidents who have become the subject of a criminal investigation
"They made up a phony collusion with the Russians story, found zero proof, so now they go for obstruction of justice on the phony story. Nice," he wrote.
Trump's young presidency has been battered by allegations - under investigation both by Congress and the FBI, that Russia interfered to sway the 2016 election in his favor, in possible collusion with Trump's campaign team.
The new allegations against Trump centre on his own admission that he fired Comey because of the Russia investigation, and suggestions he asked several top intelligence officials for their help altering the direction of the inquiry.
