The Lawyers Fighting to Keep Him Out of Jail

Amid 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 has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts as part of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation. Trump is accused of falsifying business records over allegations he instructed his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep an alleged affair she and Trump had a secret ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen was reimbursed for the payment, which was listed by The Trump Organization as legal fees. Trump has denied any affair with Daniels.

On June 13, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal offenses, including 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents under the Espionage Act, in a court in Miami as part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probe.

It has also been reported that indictments could be forthcoming 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 Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ office has been investigating alleged election interference by the former president and his allies.

below, Newsweek has compiled a list of attorneys who are working on Trump’s defense in the numerous criminal cases involving the former president.

Todd Blanche

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

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

Chris Kise

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

Kise, who has primarily handled civil cases, was brought on to 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, also represents Trump in the lawsuit filed against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

James’ office is suing the former president and The Trump Organization for $250 million over allegations the real estate company inflated or undervalued the value of a number of assets for financial benefit.

Lindsey Halligan

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

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

Christina Bobb

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

Bobb previously received scrutiny over claims she signed a letter to prosecutors giving an assurance that all classified materials had been returned during the FBI’s previous visit to Mar-a-Lago to retrieve the documents they sought in June 2022.

Evan Corcoran

Corcoran, a former assistant US attorney in Washington, DC, who moved to private practice in 2000, was hired by Trump to help deal within the federal subpoena calling for the return all the classified documents the former president retained. Corcoran later recused himself in April after he was made to appear before a special grand jury.

Corcoran was ordered to further testify to a grand jury as part of the case after a judge ruled that prosecutors can void the normally protected attorney-client privilege under what is known as the “crime-fraud exception.” This means that the protected attorney-client privilege cannot be invoked if a lawyer and their client are allegedly attempting to cover up or engage in a crime.

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

Despite being a potential key witness in the classified documents case, Corcoran still represents Trump in the federal investigation into the events that led to the January 6 attack.

Alina Habba

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

Habba was first hired by Trump in September 2021 having previously worked 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 the sexual battery and civil lawsuit defamation brought forward by the former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll.

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

Joe Tacopina

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

During his time as a criminal defense lawyer, Tacopina has represented a number of celebrity 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 being “to the defense bar what Donald Trump is to real estate.”

Susan Necheles

Susan Necheles appeared alongside Trump during his historic arrangement in a New York courtroom in April, where the former president pleaded not guilty to falsifying business records allegations.

Necheles had 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 her time as a lawyer, Necheles also previously represented Genovese crime family underboss Venero “Benny Eggs” Mangano.

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 has vowed to appeal the original ruling, which went in favor of Carroll. Another trial involving a separate lawsuit filed by Carroll, which alleges that 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 who is representing Trump in the investigation into whether the former president committed a crime by trying to overturn the 2020 election results 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 famous hip-hop stars in the courts such as Cardi B and Gucci Mane.

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