“Donald Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial had barely begun when he started to turn his anger toward his lead lawyer, Todd Blanche,” the New York Times reports.
“Although Mr. Blanche has been Mr. Trump’s favorite lawyer for some time, behind closed doors and in phone calls, the former president has complained repeatedly about him in recent weeks… He has griped that Mr. Blanche, a former federal prosecutor and veteran litigator, has not been following his instructions closely, and has been insufficiently aggressive. Mr. Trump wants him to attack witnesses, attack what the former president sees as a hostile jury pool, and attack the judge, Juan M. Merchan.”
“Mr. Trump, who often complains about legal fees and sometimes refuses to pay them, has also wondered aloud why his lawyers cost so much.”
“Nearly every lawyer who has ever represented Mr. Trump has spent time in the blast zone. But as he enters the third week of his first criminal trial — one that not only threatens his campaign to become president again, but also could send him to prison — the question of whether his lawyers can win enough leeway from his desires has never loomed larger.”
