Cuccinelli was compelled to recuse his office from the case due to his own connections to Williams and the potential conflicts involved in possibly having to cross-examine state employees, including the governor, who were among its clients.

The appointment letter for Eckert Seamans provided legal representation to the governor and his office stemming from the chef’s case and “any other related matters.”

The letter to Baker & McKenzie LLP stated that the firm was appointed to represent “any personnel of the governor,” including the Cabinet secretaries and deputy secretaries “for matters arising out of their testimony, interviews or other inquiries regarding official actions indicated” in the Schneider case “or any other case or investigation concerning gifts to Governor Robert F. McDonnell or members of his family.”

Schneider’s case ended in September, when he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor counts of embezzlement and received a one-year suspended sentence.

The state-appointed work was separate from McDonnell’s private legal defense team, which is being paid in part through a legal defense fund that reported raising $11,554 in the last six months of 2013.

Herring’s office tossed the special counsel in mid-January, deciding that the conflict that Cuccinelli had no longer exists since Herring took office. Thus, Ellen Qualls a spokeswoman for Herring said, the current attorney general's office may represent any state agencies and employees in civil matters arising from the issue.