Todd Blanche’s Plan to Keep Donald Trump Out of Jail

Todd Blanche was looking for his man. Or it could be a woman, but probably not. For a criminal-defense attorney, picking a jury is about profiling: an intuitive art. And so, on the second day of the most important trial of his life — and maybe of American political history — Blanche was looking for clues in demography, finding meaning in posture, flinches, intonation, and pregnant pauses. There was so much to distract him from his task, starting with the demanding defendant sitting to his left and the hue and cry that surrounds his traveling courthouse circus. Difficult as it was, Blanche had to tune out the noise and home in on the signals emanating from 18 citizens sitting in a jury box to size up whether any of them might be the one.

Join us for Dinner Party, a lively evening newsletter about everything that just happened. Sign up to get it every weeknight.