Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche, who delivered the closing argument for the defense, said in a Thursday interview with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that the former president would appeal the jury’s guilty verdicts handed down in the hush money trial.
“As soon as we can appeal, we will,” Blanche said, noting that the defense still had court issues to resolve with Judge Juan Merchan before they would file their appeal.
While Blanche complimented the jury as hard-working and attentive, he said it was “very hard for us to get a fair trial” because “every single person on that jury knew Donald Trump.”
Asked whether it was a mistake not to have Trump take the witness stand in his own defense, Blanche noted that it was “ultimately” Trump’s decision.
“I don’t think there was a conviction because he did not take the stand,” Blanche added.
As to the prospect that his client could be sentenced to prison by the judge in the case, Blanche continued to defend his client.
“Somebody like President Trump should never, never face a jail sentence,” he said, adding that he planned to keep working on Trump’s legal team in the other criminal cases in which the former president is charged.