DeLay Retains Richmond Lawyer

The McGuireWoods Partner's Tasks Will Include Ethics Case

4 Jun 2005 // House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, facing allegations of unethical conduct, has turned to Richmond lawyer and Republican activist Richard Cullen for legal help.

DeLay, R-Texas, recently retained Cullen and the firm where he is a partner, McGuireWoods LLP, a DeLay spokesman confirmed yesterday. Cullen is a former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia and a former state attorney general, appointed by then-Gov. George Allen, now a U.S. senator.

Cullen will handle a wide range of matters for DeLay, including ones that may come before the House ethics committee, DeLay spokesman Dan Allen indicated in an e-mail. He declined to say why Cullen was selected. Cullen would not comment yesterday.

In retaining Cullen, DeLay picked a respected lawyer who leads the McGuireWoods white-collar and government investigations team. At the same time, Cullen is someone who enjoys the politics of Washington, is well-connected politically and is comfortable dealing with the media.

Cullen "is a very able attorney and also understands the political process and how the two intersect," said former state Attorney General Anthony F. Troy, a Democrat.

A native of New York, Cullen grew up in Staunton. He worked between college and law school as an aide to then-Rep. M. Caldwell Butler, R-6th. In 1987 he was special counsel to then-U.S. Sen. Paul S. Trible Jr., R-Va., during the congressional investigation into the Iran-Contra arms-for-hostages controversy.

Cullen has ties not only to Republicans but also to Democrats, and his clients have included former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, now the Richmond mayor.

Cullen was described by a longtime friend yesterday as a lawyer capable of "being strong and aggressive, without being . . . a table-pounder.

"He doesn't yell and scream," said lawyer John B. Russell Jr., a former state and federal prosecutor who has known Cullen since they were in law school together. "He is not one to go out of his way to antagonize his opponent, and I think that overall works to his client's benefit."

DeLay has asked the ethics committee to review his travel, according to the Associated Press, following allegations that a lobbyist paid for some of his trips despite a ban on such payments.