Topline
Attorney Todd Blanche previewed former President Donald Trump’s defense in the New York hush money trial this week—and faced heat from the presiding judge for Trump’s comments about witnesses and potential jurors—putting the spotlight on an attorney who walked away from a prestigious law firm last year to join the former president’s legal team.
Key Facts
Blanche is representing Trump in his first criminal trial in New York state court, where he is facing 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, as well as the cases brought against Trump by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith for allegedly mishandling classified documents and trying to overturn his election win.
Prior to his time on the Trump team, Blanche worked at Wall Street’s oldest law firm, Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, starting in September 2017, serving as a partner at the firm for nearly six years—and taking on clients like Rudy Guiliani associate Igor Fruman and former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort.
Blanche left the firm in April 2023 to represent Trump, which he described in an email obtained by Politico as “an opportunity I should not pass up,”and founded his own practice, Blanche Law, according to his LinkedIn.
Previously, Blanche served as counsel at the major law firm WilmerHale and worked as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York for nine years, according to his staff profile on Blanche Law.
At the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Blanche also says he served as co-chief of the office’s violent crimes unit and White Plains division—where he oversaw cases involving public corruption, RICO violations and bank and wire fraud.
Key Background
Trump was indicted last spring on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records—which he has pleaded not guilty to. The charges stemmed from payments made to ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen, which Manhattan prosecutors allege were mislabeled as payments for legal services when they were really reimbursements for hush money Cohen paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to cover up an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump has long denied an affair with Daniels. The trial kicked off on April 15 with jury selection, which was completed on Friday. On Monday, Blanche made an opening statement that laid out Trump’s defense: He argued Trump didn’t commit any crimes by paying Cohen or Daniels, said Trump wasn’t involved in how the payments to Cohen were labeled and questioned Cohen’s credibility given his previous false statements.
Tangent
Prosecutors have argued Trump has repeatedly violated a gag order imposed by Judge Juan Merchan against attacking witnesses, which Blanche denied, arguing his client was merely defending himself from Cohen and Daniels. On Tuesday, Merchan chastised Blanche’s defense of Trump in a hearing about potentially holding the former president in contempt over alleged gag order violations. He was reportedly short with the attorney throughout the hearing, at one point saying: “You’re losing all credibility with the court,” when Blanche claimed Trump was trying to comply with the gag order, as quoted by the New York Times.
Surprising Fact
Blanche is representing Trump in New York alongside Susan Necheles, who has her own firm and previously defended the Trump Organization, and Emil Bove, a partner at Blanche Law. Trump has had issues holding onto lawyers throughout his legal troubles. Most recently, attorney Joe Tacopina withdrew from the hush money case in January. Lawyers Jim Trusty and John Rowley withdrew from the Florida documents case in June, and Trusty resigned from the former president’s defamation suit against CNN a week later.
Further Reading
All The Trump Lawyers Who Have Quit: Tacopina Latest To Walk Away (Forbes)
