Donald Trump and two of his top attorneys representing him in Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigation parted ways Friday, just a day after he became the first former president to be indicted.
Trump was indicted on at least seven counts involving obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and illegal retention of classified government material and was ordered to appear in federal court in Miami on Tuesday. The indictment remains unsealed while the former president announced Friday that Todd Blanche would be leading his defense along with "additional lawyers in the coming days," according to a post on his Truth Social media platform.
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"This morning we tendered our resignations as counsel to President Trump, and we will no longer represent him on either the indicted case or the January 6 investigation," according to a joint statement Jim Trusty and John Rowley issued Friday.
"Now that the case has been filed in Miami, this is a logical moment for us to step aside and let others carry the cases through to completion," they added. "We have no plans to hold media appearances that address our withdrawals or any other confidential communications we’ve had with the President or his legal team."
In Trump's Truth Social post, he thanked the pair of attorneys for their work, adding "they were up against a very dishonest, corrupt, evil, and 'sick' group of people, the likes of which has not been seen before."
"For purposes of fighting the Greatest Witch Hunt of all time, now moving to the Florida Courts, I will be represented by Todd Blanche, Esq., and a firm to be named later," Trump added.
Blanche was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York before shifting to private practice as a white-collar criminal defense attorney. He was asked in April to join the Trump legal team defending the former president against fraud charges related to alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.
“After much thought/consideration, I have decided it is the best thing for me to do and an opportunity I should not pass up,” Blanche said in a statement to Politico at the time.
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Blanche was no stranger to Trump's orbit before his hiring. He represented Paul Manafort, who chaired the Trump campaign in 2016, and Igor Fruman, an associate to Rudy Giuliani charged in a campaign-finance case.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Blanche, Trusty, and Rowley for comment.