Trump hires former Florida solicitor general in criminal probe of Mar-a-Lago documents
Ex-Florida solicitor general Chris Kise inked a contract to represent Donald Trump in the criminal case that resulted in the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago, sources say.
Chris Kise, Florida’s former solicitor general who served on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ transition team, inked a contract to represent Donald Trump in the criminal case that resulted in the FBI search of the former president’s home in Mar-a-Lago, according to two sources with knowledge of the discussions.
Kise, who declined to comment, began negotiations with Trump shortly after the FBI’s search of his Palm Beach estate Aug. 8. Numerous other criminal defense attorneys have said they couldn’t represent the former president in the Southern District of Florida, citing the all-consuming job of representing Trump or his reputation as a penny-pinching problematic client with a history of having rival advisers who backstab one another, according to five people with knowledge of the legal effort.
Other attorneys declined because their firms wanted to avoid the political blowback of representing such a divisive figure, according to those in Trump’s orbit who say that Kise is considering leaving the firm of Foley & Lardner — where he had briefly represented Venezuela’s government two years ago when hostilities with the United States ran high — to take the job.
Justice Department wraps initial review of Mar-a-Lago documentsAug. 30, 202202:34Kise has won four cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous ones before the Florida Supreme Court, and he also has a reputation as a skilled political knife fighter. In the waning days of the 2018 governor’s race, Kise widely publicized damaging information about Democrat Andrew Gillum secretly accepting free tickets to the Broadway show "Hamilton" from undercover FBI agents, in contravention of Florida's ethics laws. Gillum, who denied wrongdoing, went on to narrowly lose to DeSantis and was indicted earlier this year following the FBI investigation.
"Chris is a 360-degree lawyer: appellate, civil, criminal, state and federal — he can do it all," said former Florida Sen. George LeMieux, who was the chief of staff to then-Republican Attorney General Charlie Crist in 2003 when the office appointed Kise as state solicitor general.
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