Trump attorney calls former president an ‘extortion victim’ in Manhattan grand jury case

Lawyer Joe Tacopina called the Manhattan grand jury investigation into payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels “outrageous” and referred to former President Donald Trump as an “extortion victim” who did not violate any campaign finance laws in 2016.

Trump was invited to testify before the grand jury on Friday by prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, signifying that a criminal indictment could follow against the former president. His former lawyer, Michael Cohen, is set to testify on Monday.

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Tacopina said on Monday to George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’s Good Morning America that, as of now, Trump will not give testimony.

“We have no plans on participating in that proceeding,” Tacopina said. “It’s a decision that needs to be made still. There’s been no deadline set, so we’ll wait and see.”

Cohen testified before Congress in 2019 that he paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 during the 2016 campaign to prevent her from going public about an affair she had with Trump in 2005. Prosecutors have argued that the payment served as an improper campaign donation and may have benefited his win.

Tacopina called Cohen a “liar” and “convicted perjurer” but said when Cohen pleaded guilty to the payments in 2018, he was pleading guilty to something that “wasn’t a crime.”

The lawyer referred to Trump as an extortion victim on Monday, adding that the payment had no connection to the election.

“Let’s assume he did, for the argument. This was a plain extortion, and I don’t know when we’ve decided to start prosecuting extortion victims,” Tacopina said. “He’s vehemently denied this affair. But he had to pay money because there was going to be an allegation that was going to be publicly embarrassing for him — regardless of the campaign.”