Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to join Trump legal team

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a one-time federal prosecutor, is joining U.S. President Donald Trump's personal legal team, Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow said in a statement on Thursday.

"Rudy is great. He has been my friend for a long time and wants to get this matter quickly resolved for the good of the country," Sekulow quoted Trump as saying.

Giuliani was one of three attorneys Sekulow said were being added to the president's legal team dealing with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Russia has denied meddling in the election. Trump has said there was no collusion and has called the Mueller probe a "witch hunt."

The Republican mayor of New York from 1994 to 2001, Giuliani was also the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan for much of the 1980s. During that time, he brought many high-profile cases targeting insider trading on Wall Street.

Giuliani was also a top Department of Justice official in the Reagan administration.

Since exiting the mayor's office, Giuliani has been in private practice, most recently at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig. The firm said Giuliani is on a leave of absence, effective today.

Sekulow also announced two other lawyers were joining Trump's legal team, the south Florida husband-and-wife white-collar defense lawyers Martin and Jane Raskin.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; writing by Eric Beech; editing by Tim Ahmann and Lisa Shumaker)