President-elect Donald Trump has named three attorneys—Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and Dean John Sauer—to serve in his next administration after they defended him in court, rewarding his personal lawyers with government roles after his election, which is poised to kill most of his criminal cases.
Attorneys Todd Blanche (center) and Emil Bove watch as former President Donald Trump speaks during a ... [+]
Todd Blanche: Trump named Blanche to serve as deputy attorney general in his administration—the Justice Department’s number two role—after the attorney represented Trump at his criminal trial in Manhattan based on hush money payments made before the 2016 election, also serving on Trump’s legal team in his two federal criminal cases, for trying to overturn the 2020 election and allegedly withholding White House documents.
Blanche left law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft in order to represent Trump—after representing Trump allies like former campaign chair Paul Manafort and adviser Boris Ephsteyn, according to The New York Times—and entered private practice after previously working at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York as a violent crimes prosecutor.
Emil Bove: Trump tapped Bove as the principal associate deputy attorney general in his DOJ, after the lawyer—a partner at Blanche’s firm Blanche Law—represented Trump at his Manhattan trial and also served on his legal team in both federal cases.
Bove has flown more under-the-radar on Trump’s legal team as compared with some of his other attorneys, representing the ex-president after previously serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and co-leading its national security unit and narcotics unit, where he oversaw cases against figures like Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Dean John Sauer: Trump picked Sauer to serve as his solicitor general—the attorney who argues cases on behalf of the administration at the Supreme Court—after Sauer argued to the Supreme Court that Trump should be immune from criminal charges, and also represented Trump in civil court as the former president appealed writer E. Jean Carroll’s case accusing him of defamation and sexual assault.
Sauer previously served as Missouri’s solicitor general before moving to private practice, also serving as a law clerk to late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and retired appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a conservative-leaning judge who has since become known for his opposition to Trump and Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Blanche was the key lawyer representing Trump in his hush money trial earlier this year, with the attorney getting a mixed reception even as the jury ultimately declared Trump guilty. Blanche was praised during his cross-examination of ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen for seemingly catching Cohen off-guard by showing evidence suggesting a call Cohen claimed to have with Trump about the hush money payment in question may have actually been about a totally separate matter, as texts suggested Cohen was actually calling Trump’s bodyguard to discuss him being pranked by a 14-year-old. The lawyer was also chastised by Judge Juan Merchan when he was trying to argue Trump didn’t violate the gag order against him, with Merchan telling Blanche he was “losing all credibility with the court.” The other two federal cases against Trump that Blanche and Bove are involved with are expected to end without going to trial before Trump takes office. While Trump’s appeal of the Carroll case is still pending, Sauer’s argument on Trump’s behalf led to the Supreme Court ruling in the ex-president’s favor, declaring him immune from at least some criminal charges. An appeals court ruled against Trump after Sauer argued on immunity there, however, and the attorney made waves during both court appearances when he suggested former presidents should be immune from prosecution even if they assassinate political rivals.
Blanche was a registered Democrat before representing Trump, according to The New York Times—he’s since registered as a Republican—and the Financial Times reports he “shed a tear” when Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election to Trump.
$9.9 million. That’s how much Trump has paid Blanche and Bove’s law firm Blanche Law and Sauer’s firm James Otis Law Group as of Oct. 16, based on federal filings by Trump’s Save America PAC, which handles his legal bills. It’s unclear how much he’s paid each lawyer individually, however, as those figures also include other attorneys in those firms.
Another personal Trump attorney, Alina Habba, was reported to be a top contender for White House press secretary, as Habba has become an outspoken defender of the ex-president in the media. Habba denied those reports Thursday, tweeting, “Although I love screaming from a podium I will be better served in other capacities.”
Trump has started naming a slew of officials to top roles in his administration after winning the election last week. The president-elect’s announcement bringing his criminal defense attorneys into the administration came after Trump picked former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to lead the DOJ as attorney general, sparking widespread criticism even among some GOP lawmakers. Others that Trump has named to his administration thus far include controversial picks like Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be health secretary, Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense and former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to be the director of national intelligence, along with more expected picks like campaign manager Susie Wiles serving as Trump’s White House chief of staff. Trump rewarded his personal attorneys as his legal issues have fallen by the wayside in the wake of his electoral win—at least in his criminal cases—with his two federal cases poised to end as the DOJ seeks to comply with longstanding precedent against prosecuting sitting presidents. Trump’s criminal charges in Georgia for trying to overturn the 2020 election are also likely to be paused until he leaves office, and while Trump has already been convicted in the Manhattan case, he’s successfully managed to postpone his sentencing. The proceedings in that case are now halted while prosecutors figure out how things should proceed in light of Trump’s election. Trump’s imminent presidency will not get him out of his civil cases, however, and the president-elect’s appeals of rulings against him in Carroll’s two defamation cases and the civil fraud trial against Trump and his associates will continue.