Trump attorney: Melania’s absence at husband’s trial not for ‘lack of love and support’
Former President Trump’s lead defense attorney in his recent criminal trial said Melania Trump not appearing in court doesn’t reveal a “lack of love and support.”
“Their son was finishing school in Florida,” Todd Blanche told David Oscar Markus’s “For the Defense” podcast, which aired Sunday.
Melania Trump did not attend any of the seven-week trial. Three of Trump’s kids — Donald Trump Jr., Tiffany Trump and Eric Trump — sat in on some days, as did Lara Trump, Eric’s wife.
Blanche said he never discussed — and didn’t want to — whether the first lady would attend with his client.
“I don’t think that the lack of presence should be interpreted as a lack of love and support. It’s just lack of presence,” he added during the podcast interview.
Last week, Trump was convicted on all 34 counts for covering up a hush money payment in New York business records with the intent to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.
The jury’s verdict marked the first-ever criminal conviction of a former U.S. president, and Trump’s sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
Trump in a Sunday interview said the trial and conviction had been hard on his wife, particularly because of the salacious manner of the testimony. He accused prosecutors of doing this intentionally.
The sit-down with Markus, whom Blanche said he considers a friend, was the latest in the Trump attorney’s postverdict media tour. Blanche again vowed to appeal the conviction.
During the interview, the duo revealed that Markus suggested one of the most memorable lines that made it into Blanche’s closing argument, when the attorney attacked prosecutors’ star witness, Michael Cohen.
Blanche asked the 12 New Yorkers on the jury if they were familiar with the acronym “GOAT,” meaning “Greatest of All Time,” name-dropping athletes Michael Jordan and Tom Brady.
“Michael Cohen is the GLOAT. He’s literally the Greatest Liar of All Time,” Blanche continued.
Markus asked Blanche on the podcast, “did the jury react to the line, did they like it?”
“I think they did like it, the ‘MVP of liars’ too. I was trying to personalize it more to them,” Blanche responded.
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