Former President Donald Trump has quietly added a new criminal defense attorney to his legal team as he faces a potential indictment in the federal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Attorney John Lauro, who has also represented Trump attorneys Christina Bobb and Alina Habba, is joining the team and will be working alongside Todd Blanche, several sources told CNN. Lauro will be solely focused on special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election and was part of the team attempting to find out whether others in Trump’s orbit received target letters after Trump did Sunday night.
Lauro is a former federal prosecutor in Brooklyn turned white-collar lawyer who practices out of Florida and New York.
A request for comment from Lauro was declined. A Trump spokesman also declined to comment.
Nearly six weeks after he was indicted on federal charges in a separate investigation into his alleged mishandling of national security secrets, Trump continues to work on adding more weight to his legal team focused on fighting those charges.
William Barzee, a Miami-based former public defender, visited Trump at his Bedminster golf club last Thursday to discuss joining the team, a source familiar with the trip told CNN. He could be added to the team soon, but nothing has been finalized or announced. Reached for comment Monday, Barzee declined to comment to CNN.
Trump has been attempting to hire a seasoned, Florida-based attorney for nearly two months now after he parted ways with his two top attorneys handling the documents investigation, Jim Trusty and John Rowley, shortly after he was indicted. Their abrupt departure left the case in Todd Blanche’s hands, but Blanche has only been part of Trump’s legal team since April and had initially not been a part of the documents investigation.
Chris Kise, the former Florida solicitor general, also remains on the team and appeared in court for Trump’s arraignment in the documents case last month.
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