Trump's elite legal team collapses ahead of criminal appeal

President Donald Trump's legal team at Sullivan & Cromwell is unraveling ahead of several high-profile appeals, Politico reported Sunday.

Trump has an "elite legal team" that included five of the firm's partners, all of whom have clerked for Supreme Court justices and one who had once served as acting solicitor general, according to Politico. Since April, those lawyers have been taking off, and Trump's legal team has dwindled down to one defense lawyer.

The members of Trump's team left to either go to rival law firms or were elevated by Trump himself to positions in his administration or the judiciary, according to Politico.

The last lawyer left standing on the team is Robert Giuffra Jr, the co-chair of Sullivan & Cromwell and the single partner responsible for leading Trump's defense. Giuffra Jr. still faces high-profile appeals, including an attempt to get rid of Trump's criminal conviction, Politico reported.

In October, Sullivan & Cromwell is expected to file a brief in the appeal of Trump's New York criminal conviction tied to his Manhattan hush money case. Later this month, Sullivan & Cromwell is scheduled to file a brief in Trump's appeal of the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

According to an anonymous insider at Sullivan & Cromwell who spoke to Politico, the law firm plans to add partners to Trump's legal team during the next two weeks.

In July, Giuffra Jr. and a junior-level lawyer were the only signatories from Sullivan & Cromwell on a petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn an $83.3 million verdict awarded to E. Jean Carroll for her defamation lawsuit, Politico noted. A lawyer from a Missouri-based "boutique" law firm that had defended Trump in the past also signed on, according to Politico.

According to Politico, it would be "unusual" for Giuffra Jr. to handle all three of these appeals on his own.