WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Donald Trump on Saturday named Stanley Woodward, an attorney who has defended several of the incoming president’s top aides and associates as well as people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack, to join his White House legal team.
Trump’s transition team said in a statement that Woodward would serve as an assistant to the president and a senior counselor, and would work closely with Trump’s White House chief of staff, previously named as Susie Wiles.
Trump last month tapped David Warrington as his top lawyer leading the White House legal team, reversing course on his earlier pick of William McGinley, who moved to work with an outside group led by billionaire Elon Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump is scheduled to take office on Jan. 20.
Woodward, based in Washington, has represented multiple people in Trump’s circle over the years, including adviser Dan Scavino, trade adviser Peter Navarro and aide Walt Nauta.
He has also represented some defendants charged in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including Oath Keeper Kelly Meggs.
Trump also said three assistants who served in his first White House term would be returning: Robert Gabriel, Nicholas Luna and William “Beau” Harrison.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Nathan Layne; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
