The last-minute scramble to find a veteran trial lawyer was a familiar process for Trump, who has had difficulty hiring and keeping lawyers to defend him in the numerous federal and state criminal cases that have dogged him through his presidency and after he left the White House.

A man who is known for not paying the people who work for him, throwing his supporters under the bus at any opportunity, and brazenly breaking the law? What lawyer would even want him in the same room with him?