Lawyers Are Working Hard To Keep Him Out Of Jail

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Amidst his ongoing legal issues, Donald Trump has had to retain a host of lawyers to represent him during legal proceedings, as well as replace those who have left.

In recent months, the former president pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts as part of an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Trump has been accused of falsifying business records over allegations that he ordered his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to maintain an alleged affair she had with Trump before the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen was paid for the settlement, which The Trump Organization listed as legal fees. Trump has denied any contact with Daniels.

On June 13, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal offenses, including 31 counts of knowingly retaining classified documents under the Espionage Act, in a Miami court as part of an investigation by Special Counsel Jack Smith.

It was also reported that the charges could come as part of Smith’s investigation into the January 6 attack and Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, as well as in Georgia, where the Fulton County District’s office is investigating. Attorney Fani Willis is the alleged election. interference of the former president and his allies.

Below, Newsweek has compiled a list of attorneys who have worked on Trump’s defense in numerous criminal cases involving the former president.

Composite image of Donald Trump Lawyers, Evan Corcoran, Alina Habba and Todd Blanche MARCO BELLO/AFP via Getty Images; JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images; ohn Moore/Getty Images Todd Blanche

The New York attorney and former federal prosecutor is leading Trump’s legal team in the classified documents case. Blanche took the reins on the classified documents case after attorneys Jim Trusty and John Rowley left the former president’s legal team in June when the federal indictment against Trump was unsealed.

Blanche is also the lead counsel in the Manhattan district attorney’s “hush money” investigation, with the trial set to begin in March 2024. Blanche resigned from top law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft to join Trump’s legal team .

Chris Kise

When Trump pleaded not guilty in a Miami courthouse on June 13 to 37 classified documents charges, he was accompanied by two of his lawyers: Todd Blanche and Chris Kise.

Kise, who primarily handles civil cases, was brought into Trump’s team after the FBI seized classified documents kept at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in August 2022.

Kise, who left his Foley & Lardner LLP law firm to join Trump’s team, is also representing Trump in the lawsuit filed against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James’ office sued the former president and The Trump Organization for $250 million over allegations that the real estate company inflated or deflated the value of certain assets for financial gain.

Lindsey Halligan

Another of Trump’s lawyers in the classified documents case, but not present at the Miami courthouse, is Florida-based lawyer Lindsey Halligan.

Halligan, who previously dealt with insurance matters, was present at Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago resort as the FBI conducted its search for sensitive materials in August 2022. He also met with Justice Department officials, with former Trump lawyers James Trusty, and John Rowley, in the days before the indictment against the former president was unsealed.

Christina Bobb

Bobb, a former anchor at One America News Network (OAN), was another of Trump’s lawyers present during the FBI raid for classified documents in August.

Bobb has previously come under scrutiny over claims he signed a letter to prosecutors assuring that all classified materials had been returned during a previous visit by the FBI to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the sought-after documents. them in June 2022.

Evan Corcoran

Corcoran, a former assistant US attorney in Washington, DC, who moved into private practice in 2000, was hired by Trump to help deal with a federal subpoena demanding the return of all classified documents maintained by former president Corcoran recused himself in April after appearing before a special grand jury.

Corcoran was ordered to testify further to a grand jury as part of the case after a judge ruled that prosecutors could waive the normally protected attorney-client privilege under the so-called “crime-fraud exception. ” This means that the protected attorney-client privilege cannot be invoked if an attorney and their client are allegedly attempting to cover up or commit a crime.

In the federal indictment, prosecutors allege that Trump suggested to Corcoran, who was not named in the indictment, that he falsely told the Justice Department that the former president did not have any sensitive materials to return after the May 2022 subpoena. .Corcoran also allegedly drafted the statement Bobb signed following the FBI’s June 2022 visit to Mar-a-Lago.

Despite being a potential key witness in the classified documents case, Corcoran is still representing Trump in the federal investigation into the events leading up to the Jan. 6 attack.

Evan Corcoran, part of former US President Donald Trump’s legal team, leaves the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building & Courthouse after a hearing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on September 1, 2022 MARCO BELLO/AFP/Getty Images Alina Habba

Habba is another attorney on Trump’s classified documents team who has previously represented the former president in other legal cases.

Habba was first hired by Trump in September 2021 to previously work at a small law firm in New Jersey, located just a few miles from the former president’s Bedminster golf club. She was later hired as part of Trump’s defense in a civil suit for sexual battery and defamation brought by former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.

Habba was later replaced by New York attorney Joe Tacopina before the case went to trial, where Trump was found liable for sexually abusing Carroll at a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s, then defaming the Carroll’s character while denying the attack happened.

Alina Habba, lawyer for former President Donald Trump, gives an interview outside Trump Tower on March 21, 2023 in New York City. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images Joe Tacopina

As well as representing Trump in the sexual battery civil trial involving Carroll, New York-based attorney Joe Tacopina was also part of Trump’s legal team in Manhattan DA Bragg’s falsifying business records probe.

During her time as a criminal defense attorney, Tacopina represented several celebrities and high-profile figures, such as rappers A$AP Rocky and Meek Mill, and Victoria Gotti, daughter of notorious crime family boss John Gotti.

In a 2005 profile, The New York Times described Tacopina as “to the defense bar what Donald Trump is to real estate.”

Susan Necheles

Susan Necheles appeared alongside Trump at his historic arraignment in a New York courtroom in April, where the former president pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying business records.

Necheles previously defended the Trump Organization in a tax fraud case brought by DA Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr. The company was convicted of all 17 felony counts and fined $1.6 million in January 2023.

During his time as a lawyer, Necheles also previously represented the Genovese crime family Venero “Benny Eggs” Mangano.

Former US President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom with his lawyers (LR) Todd Blanche, Susan Necheles, Joe Tacopina and Boris Epshteyn during his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court on April 4, 2023 in New York City. Andrew Kelly-Pool/Getty Images Chad Seigel

Chad Seigel, a founding partner at Tacopina, Seigel & DeOreo, is representing Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush money probe. Siegel was also part of Trump’s team in the Carroll civil trial, along with Habba and Tacopina.

The former president vowed to appeal the original decision, which favored Carroll. Another trial involving a separate lawsuit filed by Carroll, who claims Trump defamed her on other occasions, including at a CNN town hall, is scheduled to take place in January.

Drew Findling

Perhaps the highest-profile attorney representing Trump in the investigation into whether the former president committed a crime by trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia is Drew Findling.

Findling, a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, is also known on Instagram by his #BillionDollarLawyer moniker, as well as previously representing a string of popular hip-hop stars in court such as Cardi B and Gucci Mane.

Findling was hired to represent Trump in the Fulton County case despite being a vocal critic of the former president, including describing him as the “racist architect of fraudulent Trump University” in a 2018 tweet.

Lawyer Drew Findling attends the Billboard 2018 R&B Hip-Hop Power Players event at Legacy Records on September 27, 2018 in New York City. Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Billboard/Getty Images

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