This BigLaw firm will represent Trump in appeal of hush-money conviction
President Donald Trump awaits the start of his criminal trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York on May 6, 2024. (Photo by Peter Foley via the Associated Press)
Sullivan & Cromwell will represent President Donald Trump in his appeal of his conviction and sentence for falsifying business records to hide a hush-money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.
The lead lawyer on Trump’s election-interference case is Sullivan & Cromwell co-chair Robert Giuffra Jr., report Reuters, Law.com, the New York Times, Law360, Politico and Above the Law.
According to the New York Times, the law firm’s handling of the appeal “underscores how New York’s legal power players have warmed to the president. Mr. Trump was spurned by lawyers from major firms when he left office four years ago, but his second victory has brought about a sea change.”
Trump was convicted in May 2024 after the Manhattan district attorney’s office in New York argued that he falsified records to cover up a crime—namely, violation of a New York law that bars using illegal means to promote a candidate for political office. The concealment made the crime a felony.
Earlier this month, Trump was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, which meant that there would be no legal penalty.
Trump’s trial lawyers, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove of Blanche Law, have been nominated to top positions in the U.S. Department of Justice. Blanche had resigned from Cadwalader to represent Trump.
Other members of Trump’s team are Sullivan & Cromwell partners James McDonald, Morgan Ratner, Jeffrey Wall and Matthew Schwartz. All the lawyers on the team have served as clerks for U.S. Supreme Court justices.
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