Trump Lawyer Predicts Case Won’t Make It to a Jury Trial

Joe Tacopina, Donald Trump’s lawyer, stated that he doesn’t think the Manhattan District Attorney’s case against the former president will reach a jury. Tacopina told NBC’s “Today” show on Wednesday morning that “This case is going to fall on its merits, on legal challenges, well before we get to a jury, if we get to a jury.” This comes after Trump was charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

Previously, Tacopina shared that his team would submit motions to dismiss the case in the upcoming days. In an interview with CNN, the lawyer explained that he doesn’t believe that there is any law that applies to this case. He added that DA Alvin Bragg is going too far by prosecuting a federal election crime as a local prosecutor.

Tacopina was questioned in his “Today” interview regarding President Trump’s comments on Judge Juan Merchan and Bragg. Tacopina replied that he is laser-focused only on the legal case and not the PR actions of the former president or his social media consultant. He stated, “I mean, that’s a relevant factor. It’s not an attack on the judge or certainly his family. No one is suggesting that anything should happen to the judge or his family and President Trump’s comments did not in any way, shape, or form incite violence.”

There are speculations surrounding Merchan imposing a gag order on Trump amid the charges against him. Critics say that such a move will have a chilling effect on the 2024 presidential race as Trump is currently the lead GOP candidate.

Meanwhile, in another interview with CBS News, Tacopina described the unsealed indictment as “very vanilla,” and asked “What’s to hide?” Tacopina also explained that the indictment “did not list the underlying crimes he allegedly intended to cover up with false business records.” Tacopina stated on the “Today” show that “Understand, these false business record entries, which are not even false, are misdemeanor counts” for which “the statute of limitations is long gone.”

On Tuesday, the district attorney’s office accused Trump of arranging payments to two women, Stormy Daniels and another, to hinder publication of alleged affairs before the 2016 presidential election. Trump denied all allegations against him. Hours after his arraignment, an appeals court ordered Daniels to pay Trump $122,000 in legal fees.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy stated: “The defendant Donald J. Trump falsified New York business records in order to conceal an illegal conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election and other violations of election laws.”