A Justice Department attorney recently left work on a high-profile money laundering case to join special counsel Robert Mueller's team, Politico reported Friday, bringing to 17 the number of lawyers working for the prosecution in the Russia probe.
Harvard Law School graduate Kyle Freeny had not been previously reported to be working on the investigation. A spokesman for Mueller's office confirmed Freeny was working on his staff, but gave no details about her role.
Freeny was in attendance Friday when Jason Maloni, spokesman for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, testified before a grand jury in federal court.
At the Justice Department since 2007, Freeny had been working on a case involving contentions that the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" was financed with assets that had been taken from the Malaysian government.
Freeny had also worked as a key federal government lawyer defending a lawsuit where the state of Texas challenged former President Barack Obama's 2014 executive action on immigration. Freeny drew criticism in that case when U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen blasted the government's attorneys for intentionally misleading him — a charge he later withdrew.
Freeny speaks Arabic and taught kindergarten in Egypt before pursuing her law degree. She also worked in Obama's White House vetting potential appointees.