Trump hires a former Florida solicitor general in Mar-a-lago probe

• He has won cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous ones before the Florida Supreme Court.
• Other attorneys declined because their firms wanted to avoid the political blowback.
• In the 2018 governor’s race, Kise helped expose Democrat Andrew Gillum’s illegal “Hamilton” tickets.

According to two sources with knowledge of the negotiations, Chris Kise, a former Florida solicitor general who was a member of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ transition team, signed a contract to represent Donald Trump in the criminal case that prompted the FBI to search the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Shortly after the FBI searched Trump’s Palm Beach estate on August 8, Kise, who declined to comment, started negotiations with Trump. Five people with knowledge of the legal process claim that many other criminal defence lawyers have declined to represent the former president in the Southern District of Florida, citing the time-consuming nature of their work for Trump or his reputation as a difficult client who has a history of having adversarial advisers who work against one another.

Those close to Trump claim that Kise is considering leaving the firm of Foley Lardner, where he had briefly represented the Venezuelan government two years ago when hostilities with the United States were at their peak, to accept the position. Other attorneys reportedly declined because their firms wanted to avoid the political fallout of representing such a divisive figure, according to those in Trump’s orbit.

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Kise is known for being a good political knife fighter and has won multiple lawsuits before the Florida Supreme Court as well as four cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Kise widely disseminated negative information regarding Democrat Andrew Gillum accepting free tickets to the Broadway production of “Hamilton” from undercover FBI agents, in violation of Florida ethics laws, in the closing weeks of the 2018 governor’s election. Following the FBI investigation, Gillum, who maintained his innocence, lost the election to DeSantis by a razor-thin margin and was later indicted.

Former Florida Senator George LeMieux, who served as the Republican Attorney General Charlie Crist’s chief of staff in 2003 when Kise was appointed state solicitor general, described Kise as a “360-degree lawyer” who could handle any case

When Charlie Crist was a Republican governor and attorney general in 2006, Ballard was a key fundraiser for Crist, who is now a Democratic congressman and DeSantis’s main political rival. After Crist departed office, Kise continued to provide advice to the transition teams for Rick Scott, Crist’s Republican replacement as governor, and DeSantis, who succeeded Scott.

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