Alan Futerfas is a New York-based criminal attorney with who has frequently represented clients in organized crime and cybersecurity cases — and he’s also the new lawyer for Donald Trump Jr.
Trump Jr., under increased scrutiny amid revelations that he met last year with a Russian lawyer pertaining to “information that would incriminate” Hillary Clinton, has hired Futerfas to represent him. While in law school, Futerfas worked for attorney Jay Goldberg, who also represented Donald Trump in his previous divorce cases.
When news first broke of Trump Jr.’s involvement in the pre-election meeting with a Russian lawyer, Futerfas said in a statement that it was “much ado about nothing.” The statement also called the period of May to early June 2016 “an intensely busy time” for Trump Jr.
“The meeting lasted about 20-30 minutes, and nothing came of it,” Futerfas said Monday. “His father knew nothing about it. The bottom line is that Don Jr. did nothing wrong. I have been representing people in investigatory matters for almost 30 years, and I see nothing here.”
It is true that in Futerfas’ long career he has represented a number of people, including many with mafia ties.
In the 1990s, Futerfas, along with his associate Ellen Resnick, represented a number of defendants accused of participation in the Colombo war — a series of murders that happened within the mafia family from 1991 to 1993.
A year later, Futerfas opened up his own practice, a small law firm in New York that focuses on white-collar investigations and prosecutions. According to his law firm’s website, he has also lectured on ethics and other topics at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and has lectured on ethics and corporate investigations for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
According to the site, in his spare time Futerfas plays the bass trombone and is part of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.
Futerfas has a long history of representing clients with alleged ties to organized crime, including the Gambino, Genovese and Colombo crime families. Last year he represented a father and son duo who were found guilty by a federal jury in Brooklyn of a number of drug charges tied to the Italian mafia. In 2002 he represented a member of the “Geezer gangsters” of the Genovese crime family.
A search of articles also shows Futerfas’ name in association with Russia and cyber-linked cases.
Last year, he represented a Russian man who spent three years and was ordered to pay nearly $7 million for creating a computer malware known as Gozi. In 2015 Futerfas represented a man who was charged with what was dubbed by prosecutors at the time the largest theft of consumer data from a bank in history.