Trump adds new lawyer ahead of Manhattan surrender

A top white-collar criminal defense lawyer has been hired as the lead counsel representing former President Trump following his indictment in a Manhattan criminal case, a Trump spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.

Todd Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, is joining the Trump team after leaving New York law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, where he was a partner, according to an email from Blanche to the firm obtained by Politico, which first reported the news.

“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,” Blanche said in the letter.

Blanche was an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York for nine years. He has experience both investigating and defending cases involving a range of white-collar crimes, including bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance violations.

Blanche recently represented Rudy Guiliani associate Igor Fruman, who agreed to a plea deal last year in a campaign finance case that landed him a one-year prison sentence. He also represented former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, in a case in which a state judge dropped New York charges against Manafort because of its double jeopardy law. Manafort was sentenced to over seven years in prison in 2019 resulting from a federal prosecution from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

The Hill has reached out to both the law firm and Blanche for comment.