A former federal prosecutor, Blanche has been a key figure on Trump’s defense team both in the New York case that ended in a conviction in May, and the federal cases brought by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith.

An attorney who has represented Donald Trump in several of the criminal cases against him has been selected by the president-elect to serve as the No. 2 lawyer at the Department of Justice.

Mr. Blanche, a former supervising federal prosecutor in Manhattan, oversaw the president-elect’s legal defense against multiple indictments.