Former Mitch McConnell staffer to defend Trump in classified documents case appeal

A former staff member of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has signed on to fight special counsel Jack Smith in the battle to keep former President Donald Trump's classified documents case dead, court records show.

Washington D.C. attorney Kendra Wharton Thursday filed notice in the 11th Circuit appeals court that she will represent Trump as Smith contests a controversialdismissal ruling from Florida federal judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed by the former president.

Emil Bove, an attorney who has previously defended Trump in both his classified documents and hush money cases, also filed an appearance of counsel with the federal appeals court.

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Raw Story reached out to Wharton for comment but did not receive an immediate reply.

Both Bove and Wharton joined Trump's legal team in September 2023 after three attorneys abruptly parted ways with the former president, Politico reported at the time.

Politico described Wharton as a white collar defense lawyer with Capitol Hill ties and reported she was expected to defend Trump in the Manhattan criminal court case brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Transcripts show Wharton appeared in Manhattan criminal court with Trump on May 16.

Trump was ultimately found guilty of falsifying business records to conceal hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

"Bove and Wharton are expected to help fill out a team that was, in some ways, hobbled by the abrupt departures of veteran lawyers John Rowley, Tim Parlatore and James Trusty around the time Trump was indicted by a Florida grand jury in June," Politico reported.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche called Wharton "brilliant."

Before a decade spent with Blanche's former firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Wharton spent four years working for Sen. Mitch McConnell as a legislative aide, according to Politico and her professional biography.