Former President Donald Trump has retained attorney Jesse Binnall as his counsel in the Jan. 6 MAGA riot lawsuit brought by two Capitol police officers, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
Binnall will represent Trump in a suit brought by officers James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby in late March. The suit alleges that then-President Trump “had inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted” an “insurrectionist mob” to attack the Capitol Police on Jan. 6, leading to injuries suffered by the two men.
Blassingame and Hemby’s suit accuses Trump of incitement to riot and directing, aiding, and abetting assault and battery, among other charges. The two men say they suffered injuries to their heads, necks, and backs from assaults by the rioters and continue to struggle with the emotional toll of having been overwhelmed by the rioting mob that day.
ADVERTISEMENT
The suit is now the third lawsuit against Trump related to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which Binnall is representing Trump and marks his ascent as the twice-impeached former president’s go-to lawyer for handling Trump’s myriad post-presidency legal problems stemming from the Jan. 6 riot.
Binnall is also representing Trump in two related suits, brought by Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson and Eric Swalwell, accusing the former president of conspiring to disrupt the congressional counting of electoral college votes. Thompson’s suit accuses Trump of conspiring with the far-right Proud Boys and Oath Keepers and Swalwell’s suit names Donald Trump Jr. and Alabama Republican Rep. Mo Brooks as alleged co-conspirators.
Binnall previously represented former Mike Flynn in a criminal case alleging the former national security adviser lied to the FBI about his communications with Russia’s ambassador to the United States. Since the election, he has represented the Trump campaign in its attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s electoral victory in the state of Nevada and has represented Defending the Republic, an organization linked to Trumpist attorney Sidney Powell that Dominion Voting Systems has sued alongside Powell for defamation.
