Trump indictment: Colleagues call his lawyer “stupid” and “loudmouth”

Donald Trump is being tried in the Stormy Daniels case in New York. His attorney in the case is well-known criminal defense attorney Joe Tacopina – and that obviously worries some on Trump’s team.

The storming of the US Capitol, the attempt to turn his electoral defeat into a victory, his handling of secret documents: Donald Trump has a whole series of investigations to deal with (which you can read here) and therefore plenty of lawyers who support him to protect from punishment. In the case of Stormy Daniels, that is primarily Joe Tacopina. The prominent defender is to ensure that the lawsuit against Trump over a possibly illegal payment of hush money to the former porn actress is dismissed. However, there are serious doubts in Trump’s team that Tacopina is suitable for the job, as reported by “Rolling Stone”.

Advisers are said to have warned Trump about Tacopina

A number of Trump’s other lawyers have privately called Tacopina “stupid” and a “loudmouth,” the US magazine writes, citing a source familiar with the matter and another person close to Trump. Both sources said some of Trump’s attorneys and advisers warned the ex-president to be careful with Tacopina and not trust the attorney’s loyalty. “He annoys others with his antics, but he’s a blunt weapon that Donald Trump apparently wants,” Rolling Stone quoted one of the people as saying. A third source familiar with the matter called Tacopina “what a bloody idiot.”

Tacopina himself naturally sees things differently: “When anonymous sources make comments in which they criticize others, it shows envy and cowardice,” he rejected the statements when the magazine confronted him. “Anyone who looks at my track record of litigation and the results I have achieved for my clients cannot seriously criticize my work or my intelligence.”

In fact, Tacopina has represented some high-profile clients, including Michael Jackson, rappers Meek Mill and Asap Rocky, baseball player Alex Rodriguez, and New York City Police Commissioner 40 Bernie Kerik. He also held managerial positions at several Italian football clubs for more than a decade and worked as a pundit in American media. On his website, the 56-year-old boasts that the men’s magazine “GQ” once described him as “the best-dressed, most eloquent and hardest-working criminal lawyer”.

But Tacopina’s career hasn’t been as smooth as he claims: “He’s had a few equally prominent failures, including the bitter breakup with Kerik,” writes Rolling Stone. Tacopina’s association with the former police chief ended with Kerik suing him for alleged misconduct, but the lawsuit was later dismissed.

Tacopina denies Trump lie

Tacopina doesn’t always cut a good figure when it comes to defending Donald Trump either. During one of his numerous television appearances in the past few days, the lawyer tried to take a paper away from a moderator of the MSNBC channel during a heated interview, which he was holding in his hand. He also claimed that Trump’s initial and later revised statement that he did not send Stormy Daniels any money was not a lie because it was not made under oath.

“To me, a lie is something essential, made under oath in a trial,” Tacopina argued. When the moderator followed up and explained that he hadn’t asked whether Trump committed perjury, just whether the statement was true or false, Tacopina replied, “It’s not a lie because it was a confidential agreement. So if he did admit, he would have breached the confidentiality agreement.”


Trump indictment: "Wants to make a huge media spectacle out of it"

Tacopina also called the Daniels deal “pure blackmail,” denied Trump had an affair with the former porn actress, and denied any possibility that Trump’s payment violated campaign laws. However, as recently as 2018, while appearing as a legal commentator for CNN, the attorney had hinted that he believed Trump had an affair with Daniels and that the payment, if the facts were as Daniels claimed, was on the campaign finance forms should have been stated, but was not and what could be “a real problem”.

Tacopina told Rolling Stone that he has not changed his mind because his previous comments were hypothetical while he now knows the facts of the case.

Donald Trump doesn’t seem to be worried about Tacopina or the internal team troubles. When asked by Rolling Stone for comment, a rep for the 76-year-old said: “President Trump has the strongest legal team at his disposal as he battles the radical Manhattan Attorney and other angry Democrats who… weaponize the justice system to go after the leading Republican presidential candidate.”

Sources: “Rolling Stone”, tacopinalaw.com, “The Hills”, MSNBC.

source site-3