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From Trump’s Attorney to Attorney General: The Rise of Todd Blanche
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The Hush Money Trial: Cross-Examining Michael Cohen
At 10:43 · chapter starts 10:00
When Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on 34 counts in the hush money case, Blanche stepped into the spotlight. The trial's fulcrum was Michael Cohen — the former Trump fixer who claimed to have arranged the Stormy Daniels payment — and Blanche went after him in classic criminal defense style. [1] — Glenn Thrush "In the hush money trial, Blanche cross-examined Michael Cohen with relentless aggression — calling him a flat-out liar and reminding the ju…" 07:07 He called Cohen a flat-out liar, and then reminded the jury that Cohen had once called Trump a dictator who 'belonged in a cage like an animal' — an attempt to convince jurors Cohen's testimony was motivated by personal vendetta rather than truth. Trump didn't prevail. But Blanche's willingness to fight, his refusal to back down, his tenacity in what seemed like an uphill case — all of it impressed the president. Thrush reports that behind the scenes, their relationship was candid and at times fiery, with Trump not afraid to yell and Blanche not afraid to push back. It was a professional partnership built on mutual respect, even within a fundamentally unequal power dynamic.
Blanche's strategy for Trump's federal cases was almost comically simple: delay. File brief after brief, run the clock toward the 2024 election, write legal documents like campaign social media posts. It doesn't seem sophisticated — but it worked. The cases were ultimately thrown out.
