I see that Mr. Jeremy Dodge has got himself a lawyer. Or, should I say, the lawyer has gotten himself a Jeremy Dodge?

Yes, Dodge has hired Brady Toensing, second-generation ideological ambulance chaser, to represent him in his Real Estate Deal 2.0 with Governor Shumlin. And Toensing, a purely political attorney by trade, has subcontracted the actual real estate portion of the work to one Joy Karnes Limoge of Williston.

Her specialty is property law, but her passion is Republican politics. As Peter Hirschfeld reports (behind the Mitchell Family Paywall), Limoge was near the top of Randy Brock’s disastrous gubernatorial campaign:

Limoge was a key supporter of Brock, who in his concession speech last year included her name first on the short list of people to whom he offered special thanks for their roles in his campaign.

Limoge’s political proclivities are providential, considering that Master Toensing was last seen in these parts repping for Brian Dubie’s failed 2010 gubernatorial bid. Nice package: top figures from both of Shumlin’s rivals coming together on a case that could cause no end of headaches for the governor.

And WCAX, ever insightful, suspects the worst. Its story is headlined “Is Governor’s Controversial Land Deal Turning Political?”

Coming up after the break: “Does Bear Shit In Woods?” Plus, Dan Dowling with your forecast.

As well-trained advocates, Limoge and Toensing manage to keep a straight face while insisting that their motives are pure as the driven snow. Toensing calls it an “opportunity to assist a fellow Vermonter.” (Maybe Legal Aid can put him on speed dial, since he’s so darn charitable.) And Limoge, speaking with Hirschfeld, went straight for the tear ducts:

“Poor Jerry Dodge,” Limoge said. “He’s a hardworking, poor Vermonter, and he’s coming up against one of the most powerful men in the state with the means to hire one of the best lawyers in the state. He needs legal representation to get himself through this.”

Pardon me, my Weaselometer just hit Defcon One.

After the jump: a stroll through our Toensing Family Memory Book.

Brady Toensing is the junior partner in the DC law firm diGenova and Toensing, water-carriers for conservative causes since the Reagan years. The senior Toensing is Brady’s mother Victoria, a constant presence on shouty cable-news shows. The other partner is Joe diGenova, Victoria’s second husband, who is also willing to yell Republican talking points whenever a camera is pointed in his direction.  

You’ll find a nice summary of family activities on a GMD diary posted way back in 2006, when Master Brady was distinguishing himself as an attack dog for Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie’s re-election campaign against Democrat Matt Dunne. Some guy named “odum” did some digging in the diGenova/Toensing walk-in skeleton closet; follow the link for details, but suffice it to say that Victoria Toensing and Joe diGenova spent the 1990s as part of the anti-Clinton Republican attack machine, and the 2000s as leading Bush Administration apologists on cable news. Most recently, Ma ‘n Pa have been trying to mountainize the Benghazi molehill on Fox News.

The allegedly nice-guy Brian Dubie apparently looooves Brady Toensing, having hired him for at least two campaign stints plus a post-election turn repping Dubie in Bill Sorrell’s campaign-finance lawsuit.

I do hope that Toensing and Limoge spare a scruple or two for Jeremy Dodge, whose best interests are probably served by a quick settlement with Shumlin. Wouldn’t it be a shame if his lawyers did their best to drag the case on and on, spending more time on press releases than on legal briefs, simply to serve their own political interests?

Yeah, that’d be a shame.

(I am, however, looking forward to the gubernatorial deposition. Always a good optic for a politician.)

And, you know, this is exactly what Governor Shumlin left himself open for — the political exploitation of an easily avoidable situation. He knew the original Dodge deal was iffy*, and if he has any political instincts whatsoever he had to know it could blow up on him.

*Evidence? The absence of a lawyer on Dodge’s side; Dodge’s obvious lack of education and legal smarts; and the fact that, although Shumlin and Dodge agreed to the sale in late September, it wasn’t formally registered until November 7 — the day after Election Day. Sorry, I can’t believe that was a coincidence.

Not that it’s likely to make much difference in his near-term electoral prospects. But the entry of Toensing the Younger is one more sign that the Governor (and by extension the Democrats) will pay a price for his acquisitional own goal.