Throughout the hush money trial, Donald Trump blasted Judge Juan Marchan and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg as corrupt thugs.
So one might assume that Trump would blame them and not his lead lawyer. Todd Blanche If the case ends in a guilty verdict.
But Trump has his own logic. He has repeatedly hurled the same insults at Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Erdogan and New York Attorney General Letitia James in the civil fraud case that led to a $464 million damage judgment against him. Yet Trump was quick to denounce his defense lawyer in that case, Susan Necheles.
“Hey, loser. loserAccording to a person who was there, Trump called the accomplished Yale Law School graduate a “shoutout.”
Still, watching the two men in the courtroom, Trump seems happy enough with Blanche: Appearances are very important to Trump, Blanche has the looks of an athlete, and, as a sign of his commitment, she has moved her family to Palm Beach, near Mar-a-Lago.
While Blanche isn’t prepared to go Roy Cohn on his client’s behalf, he has waded into the absurd, arguing at one point that it’s OK to violate a judge’s gag order because his insults of Trump are “political” and therefore qualify as free speech.
“You have lost all credibility, Blanche,” the infuriated judge told him.
This must have increased President Trump’s opinion of Blanche.
Of course, nothing would boost Blanche in Trump’s eyes more than an acquittal or mismatched verdict. winner-At least until the conclusion of two other criminal cases representing Trump.
Judge Eileen Cannon may be part of the legal team in the classified documents case, and if Trump somehow loses the case, Blanche had better prepare to be grilled with the L word.
Trump’s running mate proudly displays January 6th flag
The far tougher case for Trump, and for Blanche, concerns the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol and the alleged attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The unindicted co-conspirators include three of Trump’s former lawyers, who appear to have responded to repeated pressure from Trump to rise above the law, something he sees as merely an inconvenience.
But because the hush money and January 6th events are federal matters, Trump could pardon himself if elected. That would allow him to release felons involved in the January 6th events, repeal climate change policies, and deport millions of immigrants.
Those who fear Mr. Trump returning to the White House are beginning to see Ms. Blanche not just as a lawyer but as a kind of in-house counsel: They are beginning to see her as an accomplice, and even if she and Mr. Trump almost inevitably fall out, she will be seen as partly responsible for everything Mr. Trump has caused.
In 1999, Blanche was attending night school, raising two young children, and working as a paralegal for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. He seems to have endless energy.
“Word got out about how brilliant he was, and everyone wanted him on the case,” recalled former Assistant US Attorney Aitan Goleman. “He was impressive… just a good guy.”
Blanche became a prosecutor there, a position she held for eight years before going into private practice with WilmerHale and then Cadwalder, Wickersham & Taft. He could have ended up just another unknown, successful white-shoe lawyer.
Then came the inevitable big case for a lawyer: representing a former president.
Trump was the only former president. Mr. Blanche’s firm asked him to either decline new clients or resign. He signed with Mr. Trump, but three fellow lawyers who knew him later expressed disappointment and concern to The Daily Beast.
“The danger is [Trump] “You can be persuaded to do things that go against your good sense,” one lawyer says.
“He thinks everyone loves him, and he makes everyone miserable,” Trump’s former lawyer said of his former client.
The lawyer simply added, “He’s a bad guy.”
Despite having no prior experience in major criminal defense cases, Blanch has taken on Trump in three landmark cases and has been accused of making rookie lawyer mistakes, which is to be expected.
But for now, it appears he has remained in his clients’ good graces — and in return, he risks being forever linked to a pathological narcissist who inspires the worst in us all.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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