Trump Failed to Hire New Lawyers Before Arraignment in Federal Criminal Indictment
AP Photo/Jim Rassol
Donald Trump was arraigned on 37 federal counts related to the mishandling and retention of classified documents on Tuesday and did so without hiring new lawyers as he planned.
Last week, the former president announced he would bring in new legal representation after his previous lawyers, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, resigned from the job. Ahead of Trump being booked, The Guardian reported that Trump will be going in with the lawyers he still has, without any of the additions he was looking for.
“Trump and his legal team spent the afternoon before his arraignment interviewing potential lawyers but the interviews did not result in any joining the team in time for Trump’s initial court appearance,” according to the report. “Trump has also seemingly been unable to find a specialist national security lawyer, eligible to possess a security clearance, to help him navigate the Espionage Act charges.”
Former federal prosecutor Todd Blanche and former Florida solicitor general Chris Kise appeared alongside Trump at the courthouse. Trump announced Blanche would be representing him last week, though The Guardian reported that Trump “settled” for Kise as a one-off after his efforts to recruit another trial lawyer didn’t pan out.
Among the lawyers who declined to work with Trump, The Guardian named Howard Srebnick, David Markus, and Benedict Kuehne among those who Trump interviewed, or were interested in working for him.
