Donald Trump's Lawyers Switch Up Roles

Attorney Todd Blanche may be leading former President Donald Trump's legal team, but there's another lawyer who has emerged as a fixture in the courtroom where Trump's criminal trial is playing out.

Emil Bove, one of the defense attorneys representing Trump in the hush money case, returned to the podium on Monday to lead the cross-examination of former Trump Organization Comptroller Jeffrey McConney—a position Bove is becoming increasingly familiar with.

As of Monday, Bove has cross-examined all the major witnesses who have appeared on the stand, including former publisher David Pecker, former White House communications director Hope Hicks and lawyer Keith Davidson, who previously represented adult film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Blanche, on the other hand, has crossed witnesses with less explosive testimony, like Gary Farro, the former banker for Michael Cohen, and Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization's accounts payable supervisor.

"Bove taking the lead on the bigger witnesses can mean a number of things," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek. "He may be better at the art of cross-examination or Trump may be unhappy with Blanche's performance."

Bove taking a more significant role comes amid recent reports that Trump has turned on Blanche because he doesn't think his lead counsel is as aggressive as he should be. Last week, the New York Times reported, "Behind closed doors and in phone calls, the former president has complained repeatedly about him in recent weeks."

Both Trump adviser Jason Miller and legal spokesperson Alina Habba have reiterated that Blanche remains a crucial member of the team, but the switch up could be a way for Blanche to offer Trump a legal approach that is more in line with what the former president likes to see.

"Bove's style is much more aggressive than that of Todd Blanche, Trump's lead counsel in the case," former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek. "Trump has stated many times he prefers his lawyers to be uniformly aggressive with witnesses, judges, and opposing counsel. If the reports of his displeasure of Blanche's performance thus far in the trial are accurate, it likely that Bove's style better matches Trump's preferences."

Bove, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, is considerably more punchy than Blanche, who has more of an everyman nature to him—a trait that might be looked upon more favorably by the judge. Blanche, notably, has been the one who argues on behalf of Trump to Judge Juan Merchan. For example, he has led the defense in both the gag order hearings that have been held in the case.

McAuliffe said while Trump might prefer aggressive attorneys, hostile crosses of neutral witnesses can also backfire with jurors, "who usually gauge lawyers' effectiveness on their ability to push back against some witnesses and treat others as irrelevant."

"Bove may be catering to Trump's wish––indeed his edict––for counsel to challenge every witness at every opportunity even when the challenge makes no sense to an observer," he said. "It's another example of Trump believing he is his own best attorney regardless of lack of experience as a trial lawyer, and the absence of a law degree."

But former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said the different roles Blanche and Bove have taken could also be the nature of a criminal defense team.

"When a defendant is represented by a team of lawyers, it is not unusual to see one attorney question some witnesses and another attorney question others," McQuade told Newsweek. "It is often simply a matter of splitting up the work efficiently."