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........

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