Trump hires white-collar attorney Stephen Weiss for classified documents defense team.

Former President Donald Trump Adds New White-Collar Defense Attorney to His Team

Former President Donald Trump has enlisted the help of a new white-collar defense attorney to defend him against charges brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The charges allege that Trump unlawfully retained classified documents after leaving the Oval Office.

Trump recently added Stephen Weiss to his legal team. Weiss is a counsel at Blanche Law, the same firm led by Trump’s lead New York attorney, Todd Blanche.

Experience and Expertise

According to Weiss’s LinkedIn page, he has been working at Blanche Law for at least two months. Prior to that, he spent nearly seven years specializing in white-collar defense at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft.

In addition, Weiss had a brief stint as an intern with the United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs. During this time, he worked closely with international regulatory and enforcement bodies to coordinate criminal investigations involving the U.S. and other countries.

Blanche himself has a background as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He later transitioned to private practice as a white-collar criminal defense attorney. Blanche was asked to join Trump’s legal team in April to defend the former president against fraud charges related to alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Trump is also represented by Chris Kise, who is listed as the lead attorney on the classified documents case. Kise played a crucial role in sponsoring Blanche to appear pro hac vice, allowing him to join the case in a jurisdiction where he is not licensed to practice law.

Legal Proceedings and Trial

Last month, Trump pleaded not guilty to 37 federal charges related to Smith’s investigation. The charges accuse the former president of unlawfully retaining classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after leaving office. Among the charges are 31 counts of willful retention of classified documents under the Espionage Act.

Trump’s legal team will appear before U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon on July 18 for a hearing on procedures for handling the classified information. This will be the first of many proceedings, as the Justice Department aims for a December start to Trump’s trial.

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