Trump Defense Firm INDICTED!
In a recent development, the federal judge overseeing a pregnancy discrimination case against Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign has approved a request by the ex-president and his team to change their legal representation.
The new legal counsel will come from the Maryland law firm Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC. This move comes after the previous defense team, LaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Kittredge, Carlin & McPartland, sought to withdraw from the case earlier this month, citing irreparable breakdowns in the attorney-client relationship.
The lawsuit, initially brought forward by GOP operative Arlene “A.J.” Delgado in 2019, alleges that campaign leadership marginalized her responsibilities after an affair between her and married advisor Jason Miller resulted in pregnancy.
Initially, Judge Katharine Parker rejected the law firm’s request to withdraw, but eventually granted approval for the campaign to switch to Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC. However, the new legal team has not responded to requests for comment from The Daily Beast.
While attorney Jeffrey Gavenman from Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC, will be defending Trump, Steve Bannon, Reince Priebus, and Sean Spicer in the case, it’s worth noting that one of the founding partners of the firm is currently facing legal troubles of his own and is fighting to avoid prison time.
In late 2020, the Department of Justice charged Jeremy Schulman, half the eponymous team behind the firm, with using forged documents to gain access to $12.5 million in Somali state assets that the East African nation’s central bank had ordered frozen amid the country’s incessant civil war.
The feds allege that, beginning in 2009, Schulman—then a shareholder in a different firm cooperating with prosecutors—and his co-conspirators used these falsified materials to persuade financial institutions and the New York State Comptroller that they could legally take possession of the nation’s sovereign investments as representatives for its transitional government. In the process, prosecutors say Schulman skimmed off $3.3 million in fees and expenses for his firm.
Today, Schulman Bhattacharya LLC’s webpage unabashedly touts Schulman’s work for, in, and around Somalia. And Gavenman, the new Trump campaign attorney, ferociously defended his colleague and his firm in a court filing from Delgado’s allusions to the partner’s legal problems in an objection to the substitution.
In a letter addressed to the judge, Gavenman defended Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC, and himself against attempts to tarnish their reputation by association. He deemed such insinuations, based solely on allegations against one member of the firm, as unprofessional and lacking credibility. Gavenman emphasized that despite the pending indictment, Mr. Schulman is presumed innocent, highlighting his impeccable professional track record as evidence of this presumption.
Additionally, Gavenman brought attention to Schulman’s efforts to dismiss the indictment due to alleged misconduct by prosecutors, accusing them of presenting false and misleading testimony to the grand jury. Despite the legal proceedings, Schulman has continued to practice law.