Trump's defense team still taking shape as he appears in court

[June 14, 2023]  By Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch

(Reuters) -Donald Trump was accompanied by two of his attorneys on Tuesday when he appeared in a Miami courtroom and pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges. But his defense team is still evolving after at least three key members left in recent weeks.

Attorneys Todd Blanche and Chris Kise appeared with the former president during his arraignment, days after two other lawyers who had been helping Trump’s defense – Jim Trusty and John Rowley – resigned in the wake of his indictment. Both Blanche and Kise indicated at the hearing that they would remain on the case permanently.

Trump has also sought to add a Florida-based criminal defense lawyer to his team in the days since his indictment, according to sources familiar with the conversations. No one has been publicly named.

Lindsey Halligan, a Florida attorney who has primarily handed insurance matters, has also been involved in the case as an attorney for Trump. She did not appear in court Tuesday.

Trump pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them. He was charged last week.

Trump has accused prosecutors of seeking to damage his political prospects.

Kise, a former Florida solicitor general who has primarily handled civil cases, was brought on to Trump’s team last year after the FBI seized classified documents kept at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate.

He had been sidelined from the case amid media reports of infighting among the lawyers, and in recent months has been focused on defending Trump and his company in a civil lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general.

Blanche, a former federal prosecutor, resigned from his position at a top New York law firm to defend Trump in a separate criminal case brought by the Manhattan district attorney over hush money payments to a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.

Trump has struggled in recent weeks to bolster his defense team as the documents investigation intensified. Two attorneys who spoke with Reuters said they turned down requests to represent the former president in the documents case.

Trusty and Rowley took the lead in defending Trump in recent months, after his attorney Evan Corcoran recused himself following a federal judge’s order compelling him to testify before a grand jury hearing evidence the case.

Corcoran's testimony and notes, cited by prosecutors in the indictment, are a key part of the government's evidence that Trump tried to obstruct justice.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump appears with his lawyer Todd Blanche by video conferencing before Justice Juan Merchan during a hearing before his trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City, U.S. May 23, 2023. in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo

Days before Trump was indicted, Trusty, Rowley and Halligan met with U.S. Justice Department officials in a last-ditch plea to avoid an indictment. The day the indictment was unsealed, the pair abruptly announced their resignation from Trump’s legal team.

Another lawyer on Trump’s team, Tim Parlatore, exited in May, citing disagreements with Boris Epshteyn, a Trump confidante and former corporate lawyer who has been advising the former president on various state and federal investigations.

Speaking to CNN, Parlatore said Epshteyn "had really done everything he could to try to block us - to prevent us from doing what we could to defend the president."

Trump has struggled to find attorneys to represent him in part because Epshteyn is viewed by many lawyers in Trump’s orbit as lacking judgment and expertise, according to a person familiar with the dynamics.

Epshteyn referred questions to a spokesperson for Trump.

A source close to the Trump legal team praised Epshteyn as "absolutely focused on protecting President Trump from every angle — legal, political, and media.”

Epshteyn had his phone seized by federal investigators last year, and authorities investigating Trump’s attempts to hold onto power following the 2020 presidential election have sought information from witnesses about communications with Epshteyn, according to a source familiar with the situation and subpoenas seen by Reuters.

Epshteyn is also represented by Blanche, according to four sources, potentially complicating the defense if Epshteyn becomes further entangled in investigations involving Trump.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Additional reporting by Jacqueline Thomsen in Miami and Karen Freifeld in New York; Editing by David Bario and Alistair Bell)

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