In the 1980s, Fischetti and Pomerantz led law firms that made a mark in New York's criminal defense scene, defending drug dealers, businessmen, and mob figures alike.
Before Fischetti was the name behind law firm Fischetti & Malgieri LLP, he was partner in the firms Fischetti, Feigus & Pomerantz and Fischetti, Pomerantz, & Russo LLP.
Fischetti didn't respond to Insider's repeated interview requests for this story.
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A dean of the criminal defense bar
Fischetti spent much of the late 1960s and 1970s in politics, working as an aide for Democratic officials and unsuccessfully running for Congress on an anti-Vietnam War platform.
With a law degree from St. John's University, he switched careers to criminal law, where he quickly rose to prominence. Fischetti mainly represented mobsters and crime families in the 1980s and early 1990s.
"At one point, he was law partners with my former mentor, Jerry Shargel, and the late James LaRossa," Gravante told Insider. "Ron is a very experienced criminal defense lawyer and the three of them, Fischetti, LaRossa and Shargel, were the deans of the criminal defense bar - who actually took cases to trial."
Fischetti's most prominent case was his defense of Gambino mobster Gene Gotti, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
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"When they say to somebody, as an example, 'if he does that again, I'll kill him,' they don't mean that they will physically kill him," Fischetti once told the New York Times of his defense strategy. "It's a manner of speech."
In the early 2000s, Fischetti grabbed headlines again while representing a former NYPD officer, Charles Schwarz, in a case where Schwarz and a partner were accused of torturing a Haitian man, Abner Louima, and telling him it was "Giuliani time."
A jury found Schwarz guilty of violating Louima's civil rights and obstructing justice, but an appeals court overturned the conviction - though Schwarz was later sentenced for committing perjury in testimony related to the case.
He has also represented other politicians. Fischetti represented South Carolina state Senator Gene Carmichael, sentenced in 1982 to ten years in prison for a scheme that involved buying votes. And he successfully reversed a corruption conviction against the former US Congressman Robert Garcia and his wife.
Fischetti's long relationship with the 70-year-old Pomerantz has served as an asset in handling the investigation. The two can speak to each other with mutual respect and trust, Gravante said.
"I think he's perfectly suited for his role in this case," Gravante said. "He's extremely experienced and respected. He has a lot of credibility, especially with Mark Pomerantz."
Fischetti has belittled the Trump Organization investigation in public statements. Before prosecutors formally accused the company and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg, of tax evasion in early July, Fischetti described the case as "much ado about nothing." Weisselberg and lawyers for the company pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"In my more than 50 years of practice, never before have I seen a district attorney's office target a company over employee compensation or fringe benefits," Fischetti told the New York Times of the charges against Weisselberg.
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"This is so small that I can't believe I'm going to have to try a case like this," he told Politico.
While Trump surrounds himself with political loyalists, his attorneys, while usually Republican, aren't always outwardly partisan. It isn't clear where Fischetti's political sympathies lie. He infrequently donates to politicians, but exclusively gives to Democrats, including a $1,000 donation for Hillary Clinton's 2000 run for US Senate, according to Federal Election Commission records.
"There's nobody better to try a case with than Mark," he told the Journal. "He doesn't try to take the upper hand in the courtroom. He's calm; he's humorous."
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