Lawyer Biographies

Joseph E. diGenova, founding partner of the Washington, D.C. law firm of diGenova & Toensing, LLP represents individuals, corporations and other entities before the Federal courts, Congress, and U.S. cabinet departments and agencies on criminal, civil, administrative and investigative matters. In December 1992, he was appointed Independent Counsel in the Clinton Passport File Search matter. He was appointed Chairman of the Grievance Committee of the D.C. District Court in 1995 by the judges of that court. In 1997, he was named Special Counsel by the U.S. House of Representatives to probe the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. As a result of that assignment, he was appointed by the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, to sit on the Independent Review Board, which oversees the Teamsters pursuant to a 1989 Consent Decree. He is on that Board with former FBI and CIA Director William Webster and former U.S. Attorney General Benjamin Civiletti. In 2007, Mr. diGenova was retained by the New York State Senate to investigate then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in the Troopergate matter.

His practice emphasizes representation to resolve disputes with various branches of the Federal government through negotiation, litigation, and/or legislation. He does white collar criminal defense work for individuals (such as the former CEO of BCCI) and corporations, conducting internal investigations as well. He represents individuals and organizations in Congressional investigations.

For four years, diGenova was United States Attorney, District of Columbia, which is the largest such office, having more than 400 attorneys. He supervised complex Federal criminal and civil matters including international drug smuggling, public corruption, espionage, insider trading, tax fraud, extradition, fraud, RICO, export control and international terrorism. Many of these prosecutions involved negotiations with foreign governments. He conducted a wide-ranging probe of corruption in the D.C. government, which led to the conviction of two deputy mayors. He led the prosecution of Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard. He was the Principal Assistant U.S. Attorney during the prosecution of attempted Presidential assassin, John W. Hinckley.

DiGenova has extensive experience on Capitol Hill. He was Chief Counsel and Staff Director of the Senate Rules Committee and Counsel to the Senate Judiciary, Governmental Affairs and Select Intelligence Committees. He has conducted confirmation, investigative, legislative and oversight hearings, drafted legislation and testified before both Houses of Congress. He also served as Administrative Assistant and Legislative Director to U.S. Senator Charles Mathias.

Mr. diGenova has published articles on criminal law, terrorism, and Congressional oversight and has spoken on those and other issues to various organizations throughout the United States. As part of his advocacy approach, he has appeared on Court TV, Lehrer News Hour, Meet the Press, Face the Nation, Nightline, 60 Minutes, Crossfire, This Week With David Brinkley, John McLaughlin’s One On One, Today Show, Good Morning America, and other national television programs. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Cincinnati and his law degree from Georgetown University.

Victoria Toensing, founding partner of the Washington D.C. law firm diGenova & Toensing, LLP, has extensive experience in all three branches of government solving problems for individuals, corporations, trade associations, and other organizations. She is an internationally-known expert on white collar crime, terrorism, and national security and intelligence matters.

Toensing has successfully litigated both civil and criminal cases for three decades. Since April 2013, Toensing has represented Gregory N. Hicks, former DCM in Libya and one of the Benghazi Whistleblowers.

Toensing represented "Jane Doe Thompson" in a successful lawsuit against the CIA. "Thompson," the first woman Chief of Station in Latin America, reported her male deputy for wife-beating and disciplined other subordinates for misconduct ranging from public drunkenness to threatening to kill security guards. Thompson sued when she became the subject of an Inspector General investigation based on these subordinates' false claims. In 1997, Toensing was named Special Counsel by the U.S. House of Representatives to probe the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. In 2007, Toensing was retained by the New York State Senate to investigate then-Gov. Eliot Spitzer in the Troopergate matter.

As Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Justice Department from 1984-1988, she established Justice's Terrorism Unit. She managed the federal government's efforts to bring to justice the terrorists responsible for the hijacking of TWA 847, the bombing of Pan Am 830, and the takeover of the cruise ship Achille Lauro. For her aggressive pursuit of terrorist Mohammed Rashid she was featured on the cover of The New York Times Magazine (April 21, 1991).

Also in her Justice Department position, Toensing supervised the Defense Procurement Fraud Unit, savings and loan industry fraud, cases dealing with nuclear industry regulation, securities fraud, and fraud and bribery in the banking industry. She testified frequently before Congressional Committees.

While Chief Counsel for Senator Barry Goldwater, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (1981-1984), Toensing was instrumental in winning passage of two important bills: (1) to protect the identities of intelligence agents, and (2) to protect certain classified information from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

As Assistant U.S. Attorney in Detroit from 1976-1981, she developed the argument used before the Supreme Court to support profile searches at airports of suspected drug couriers.

Toensing is a frequent guest on national television programs discussing politics, criminal justice, national security, and terrorism, including C-Span, Fox News, 60 Minutes, Face the Nation, Good Morning America, 20/20, FOX, CNN, Lehrer News Hour, Today Show, NPR, and Nightline. She was legal analyst for America's Talking for the O.J. Simpson trial, and has co-hosted CNBC’s Equal Time and Rivera Live! She was legal analyst for MSNBC for the impeachment and Senate trial of President Clinton.

Toensing received her B.S. from Indiana University and graduated Cum Laude from the University of Detroit Law School.

Brady Toensing obtained his undergraduate and law degrees from Georgetown University. He is admitted to practice in Maryland, Vermont, and Washington, DC.

Prior to law school, he served as a Legislative and Special Assistant to United States Senator Warren B. Rudman. He has been an attorney for more than twenty years and has represented companies, individuals and other entities in a wide range of complex civil and criminal matters, including administrative, judicial, and federal agency proceedings.

Most recently, he served as a Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Policy. In that role, Mr. Toensing helped lead and coordinate the Department’s Section 230 reform efforts, including co-leading the Department’s 2020 Section 230 Workshop, which framed the debate over this important law and led to the development of the Department of Justice’s Section 230 legislative package. He also assisted with the confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett as an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court, acting as a member of the Rapid Response Team.

His practice, with some samples, is summarized below.

International: Mr. Toensing has handled Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) cases involving countries all over the world, including representing one of the longest-serving, white-collar, undercover cooperators in FBI history. He has represented clients in MLAT inquiries and in OFAC matters. For more than ten years, he represented the former President of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) through liquidation and multiple lawsuits involving allegations of international money laundering and bank fraud. He has also conducted overseas investigations and helped design international compliance programs.

Congress: Mr. Toensing has represented clients in a number of Congressional investigations, including Clinton White House Pardon issues, Ruby Ridge/Waco, and during the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations inquiry into tax shelters. He also helped to develop and implement a successful Legislative and Executive Branch strategy regarding healthcare issues for a major trade organization.

Grand Jury Investigations: Mr. Toensing has represented clients in grand jury investigations involving numerous allegations, including FCPA, money-laundering, government procurement fraud, union fraud, healthcare fraud, witness tampering, campaign finance fraud, false statements, wire and mail fraud, and obstruction of justice.

First Amendment and Political: Mr. Toensing litigated and won a landmark First Amendment case in the Vermont Supreme Court that expanded access to government records stored in private accounts under the state’s open records law. He was thrice elected Vice Chairman of the Vermont Republican Party. He served as General Counsel to Vermont Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie’s reelection campaign and as litigation counsel to his campaign for Governor. He was also lead election-day counsel for the Vermont Republican Party through numerous election cycles and lead election-day counsel in Vermont for the Trump Campaign in 2016.

Government Clients: Mr. Toensing represented the government of the District of Columbia and the Director of its prison system in Section 1983 cases in Superior and Federal Courts involving the deaths of two prisoners sent to a private prison. He won dismissal of the Firm’s client from the federal case based on qualified immunity and, in the appellate court, won a stay of proceedings in D.C. Superior Court. (The case settled prior to the appellate hearing).

He represented an FBI Hostage Rescue Team member during all manner of inquiries concerning Ruby Ridge and Waco. These included a federal grand jury investigation, state criminal proceedings, and Congressional investigations.

He represented a federal government employee in a whistleblowing case against the U.S. Department of State. He has also represented CIA, FBI, and Secret Service employees in internal hearings and investigations, and a Member of Congress during the Campaign Finance Task Force inquiry.

Discrimination Cases: Mr. Toensing has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in gender discrimination cases. As plaintiff’s counsel, he successfully fought a major United States company that was systematically discriminating against its female employees.

False Claims Act Cases: Mr. Toensing has defended a Union, individuals, and companies against claims of violations of the Federal False Claims Act.

Investigations and Compliance Programs: Mr. Toensing has conducted internal investigations and prepared reports and compliance programs for national and international corporations and labor unions. In carrying out these tasks, he has coordinated the activities of other attorneys, former-FBI agents, and forensic auditors.