Donald Trump’s lawyer Joseph Tacopina has called a potential impeachment of the former president “more likely” – after defending Trump’s claim of having no knowledge of the silent payments to Stormy Daniels as “not a lie”.
Tacopina, who is considered one of the best criminal defense lawyers having represented a series of high-profile clients, spoke about the Stormy Daniels following a signal of imminent action, including testimony before the grand jury of former Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen.
“You know, it’s getting more likely, I think now, but the one thing I still hold on to is hope that justice will prevail,” Tacopina told News Nation in an interview Tuesday night.
He lambasted a book by former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who wrote a book that dealt with the failure to indict Trump earlier in the case.
Donald Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina says an impeachment of his client in the Stormy Daniels case is becoming ‘more likely’
He said he hoped Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s office “won’t stoop to the level of Mark Pomerantz, who was out there looking for a crime that fit the person.”
Tacopina said Trump continued to deny having had sex with Daniels, a former porn star, as she claimed in 2006.
Interviewer Dan Abrams pressed him on the $130,000 payment, executed by Cohen.
“When you’re about to run for office…” Tacopina began, prompting Abrams to “partly” intervene, before pointing out Cohen’s official statements in the past that it was to shield Trump from the embarrassment.
The objective is relevant to whether authorities are able to charge Trump with any campaign finance crimes. He was identified as “Individual-1” when Cohen pleaded guilty to campaign and tax crimes.
There has been a flurry of action since Manhattan prosecutors began reviewing a “silent” payment scheme involving porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump denies an affair and Tacopina said Trump’s comments denying knowledge of the scheme were ‘not a lie’ due to confidentiality agreement
In a separate interview, with Ari Melber on MSNBC, Tacopina defended Trump’s denial of Air Force One reporters knowledge of payments to Daniels. He said the answer was “not the truth” but also “not a lie”.
It was later revealed that Cohen made the payments and Trump reimbursed him. Trump admitted the refunds in 2018.
“Here’s why it’s not a lie,” Tacopina said. ‘Because it was a confidential settlement. So if he admitted that, he would be violating the confidentiality rules. So is this the truth? Of course, that’s not the truth. Was he supposed to tell the truth? He would violate the agreement if he told the truth,” he said.
Trump hired Tacopina in January to sue Pomerantz for alleged defamation, after Pomerantz in his resignation letter, which appeared in the media, said Trump was “guilty of numerous criminal violations.”
He is also representing Trump in his defense against a libel lawsuit against E. Jean Carroll, who accuses Trump of raping her at a Bergdorf Goodman department store in the 1990s. Trump denies the allegations.
He previously represented a stable of celerity clients and high-profile defendants, including former Yankee slugger Alex Rodriguez, Michael Jackson and rapper Meek Mill.
He represented Joran van der Sloot after the disappearance of Natalee Holloway, as well as NYPD officer Thomas Wiese in connection with the infamous Abner Louima case. He also represented accused cop killer Lillo Brancato, who was convicted of attempted burglary in a 2005 incident where an off-duty cop was killed at his Brox home. He was acquitted of a murder charge.
The New York Post in 2011 quoted a prosecutor saying “I can’t take it”, adding, “He’s slick, he’s got a big ego and he’ll represent any bastard.”
Footage of Tacopina’s appearance with Melber shows it rushed to the MSNBC host after starting to read a transcript of the ex-president denies knowledge of silent payment to Stormy Daniels.
Melber posted a snippet of his interview with Tacopina on Twitter.
The clip showed the moment the interviewer brought up the lie that Trump was unaware of the $130,000 silent money payments to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election.
Mr Trump admitted in 2018 that he authorized the payment to Ms Daniels after denying it for years.
Mr Melber showed footage of Mr Trump on a plane to which reporters asked if he was aware of the payments and he said no.
A clip shared by the host showed the moment interviewer Ari Melber (left) brought up the lie that Trump was unaware of the $130,000 silent money payments to Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election. Then Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina (right) rushed forward and tried to grab Mr Melber’s transcript
Trump’s lawyer said Trump’s comment that he was unaware of the silent payments was not a lie, prompting Mr Melber to exclaim: ‘It’s not a lie?!”, Mr. Tacopina confirming: “It’s not a lie”
His attorney said the comment was not a lie, prompting Mr. Melber to exclaim, “That’s not a lie?!”, with Mr. Tacopina confirming, “That’s not a lie.”
The host began reading the transcript of the footage he showed Trump’s lawyer when Mr. Tacopina rushed forward and tried to grab the paper from the host.
“Give me that,” said the lawyer.
Mr Melber posted the interaction on Twitter and simply captioned it: “Interviews”.
Adult film actress Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, told People she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006, years before he won the 2016 presidential election.
According to Ms Daniels, she met the ex-president at a celebrity golf tournament and had sex with him there.
Mr Trump vehemently denied the affair.
In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen negotiated a secret $130,000 payment to silence Ms Daniels shortly before the 2016 election.
Mr Cohen became a harsh critic of the former president after he quit working for him.
In 2018, he admitted paying Daniels hush money, though Mr. Trump denied knowing anything about the payment in front of reporters aboard Air Force One.
” .
While Mr. Trump was the acting President of the United States, he and Cohen had a public falling out, which included Mr. Trump calling his former lawyer a “rat” and a “weak person,” while Mr. Cohen l called ‘a cheat, a liar’. , a fraudster, bully, racist, predator, kickback scammer.
Mr. Cohen served time in prison after pleading guilty to two criminal cases, one of which included the use of campaign finances in connection with Daniels and another woman who allegedly had an affair with Mr. Trump.
Trump’s former attorney said he acted on his orders and the payments were meant to keep the case stories out of the public eye ahead of the 2016 election.
