Toyota Motor Corp., facing lawsuits and criticism surrounding its recall of millions of cars and a federal probe into a possible brake defect with its Prius hybrid, has boosted its Washington lobbying effort by hiring a firm with deep Democratic ties, Bloomberg reported.

Toyota has hired the Glover Park Group, a Washington-based firm whose principals include Joe Lockhart, a White House spokesman under President Bill Clinton, and Joel Johnson, a former senior adviser to Clinton.

Lockhart, confirming that Glover Park was hired by Toyota, declined to talk about what the firm was doing. Calls and e- mails to the Toyota City, Japan-based automaker were not immediately returned. Glover Park’s hiring by Toyota was reported first in the Wall Street Journal.

Toyota has halted U.S. production of its best-selling models and has recalled about 2.57 million vehicles in the U.S. and Canada to fix a problem with sudden acceleration. Company President Akio Toyoda apologized for the crisis.

In addition, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has “received a number of complaints” about a possible Prius brake defect and is looking into the issue.

Like other Japanese automakers, Toyota has been increasing its Washington presence. Toyota last year spent $5.2 million to lobby Congress and the federal agencies, about the same as in 2008. Ten years ago, the company spent $1.1 million.