Former President Donald Trump has bolstered his legal team by hiring an experienced white-collar criminal defense attorney to defend him from criminal charges filed by the Manhattan District Attorney.
News of the hiring of attorney Todd Blanche comes on the eve of Mr. Trump’s surrender and first court appearance on Tuesday.
Mr. Blanche is a former partner at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he represented some key Trump allies, including former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and Igor Fruman, an associate of Rudy Giuliani who pleaded guilty in a campaign finance case.
Mr. Blanche did not respond to a request for comment from The Washington Times. A LinkedIn profile revealed that Mr. Blanche opened his own law firm this month.
His addition to the Trump legal team was first reported by Politico, which had obtained his resignation letter from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft.
“I have been asked to represent Trump in the recently charged DA case, and after much thought/consideration, I have decided it is the best thing for me to do and an opportunity I should not pass up,” Mr. Blanche reportedly wrote.
Mr. Blanche spent nine years as a federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, where he served as co-chief of the office’s Violent Crimes Unit. He also clerked for federal judges in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Mr. Trump is expected to arrive in New York Monday and head to Trump Tower overnight. On Tuesday, he is expected to arrive at the Manhattan courthouse where he will be arraigned on criminal charges related to hush money that was paid to an adult film star prior to the 2016 presidential election.
The funds were paid to Stormy Daniels, who alleged an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006. Mr. Trump has denied the affair but said he knew about the payments.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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