Donald Trump and Jack Smith are both beefing up their legal teams in preparation for a potential Supreme Court showdown — but when it comes to experience arguing before the justices, the difference could hardly be more stark.
Smith, the special counsel prosecuting the former president, has brought in one of the most accomplished modern Supreme Court advocates: Michael Dreeben, who has argued more than 100 cases at the high court and is a preeminent authority on the court’s criminal law doctrines.
Trump has added at least three lawyers, none of whom are part of the clubby cohort of Supreme Court advocates. They are D. John Sauer, Will Scharf and Michael Talent, according to a person familiar with Trump’s plans. All three are based in Missouri, and according to a database of Supreme Court arguments , Sauer has argued a single case, while Scharf and Talent have not argued before the court.
The two teams may collide soon in a high-stakes skirmish at 1 First Street. Last week, Smith petitioned the Supreme Court to swiftly weigh in on Trump’s claim that he is immune from being prosecuted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Smith hopes the court will take the case on an expedited basis in order to keep Trump’s Washington, D.C., trial — scheduled to begin March 4 — on track.
If the justices take the case and Dreeben and Sauer go head to head, it will be a study in contrasts. Dreeben is an institutionalist who spent three decades at the Justice Department defending the power of the executive branch to investigate and prosecute crimes — experience that surely will be relevant as he backs Smith’s prosecution of Trump. Sauer, meanwhile, is a veteran of the conservative legal community who’s best known for his involvement in Republican-backed lawsuits that blocked Joe Biden’s student-debt cancellation and accused the Biden administration of social-media censorship .
Smith recruits a SCOTUS veteran
Smith’s Supreme Court petition came as a surprise, not least because of the notable name on the cover page . Dreeben was listed as “counsel of record” in the case and as “counselor” to Smith. That was the first public indication that Dreeben was working with Smith, and it’s a strong signal that, if the justices take the case, Dreeben will be the one arguing.
He’s a trusted and familiar face to the justices. After spending more than three decades in the U.S. solicitor general’s office, where he specialized in criminal law, Dreeben moved to the law firm O’Melveny & Myers in 2020. There he maintained a robust Supreme Court practice, including a 2022 case in which he romped to a 9-0 victory , persuading the justices to reverse the conviction of a New York developer accused of wire fraud.
“He is cerebral, he is thoughtful, he is brilliant,” said Mary McCord, a former senior Justice Department official who overlapped with Dreeben.
Dreeben’s profile on the O’Melveny website was recently taken down, presumably to reflect his move to the special counsel’s team. A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment.
This isn’t the first time Dreeben has helped a special counsel investigating Trump. While Trump was president, Dreeben worked on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of links between Trump’s campaign and Russia. He helped work on litigation related to Mueller’s authority.
