Here Are the First Steps That Trump's Lawyers Are Expected to Make After His Arraignment
The criminal defense team of former President Donald Trump is already at work preparing to fight his indictment.
Trump attorney Joe Tacopina stated that he anticipates filing to dismiss the charges against his client, speaking in an interview Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.“
“We will take the indictment. We will dissect it. The team will look at every, every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge,” he said.
“And of course, I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there’s no law that fits this.”
The charges against Trump are under seal, and will remain so until the arraignment, scheduled for Tuesday.
It’s thought that the charges are connected to alleged campaign finance law violations stemming from payments made to pornographic performer Stormy Daniels.
Tacopina stated the defense team wouldn’t be seeking a dismissal at the arraignment, saying that would be mere “showmanship.”
The lawyer indicated Trump’s defense team would deeply scrutinize the legal theory underlying the charges before seeking a full dismissal.
The attorney pointed out that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is likely seeking to prosecute Trump on federal campaign finance law violations — charges that federal authorities haven’t sought to charge him with themselves.
Tacopina criticized the charges against Trump as a partisan abuse of power.
“Whether you sit on the right or the left or you’re a supporter or detractor of Donald Trump, this should really bother you,” he said, according to a transcript of the interview.
“This should really shake the core of what we believe our justice system should be about. It should not be weaponized to go after political opponents.”
Tacopina referred to the timing of the charges as “a day that, in my opinion, the rule of law in the United States has died.”
BREAKING: @realDonaldTrump‘s lawyer Joe Tacopina’s interview with @CNN @DanaBashCNN on the indictment in NYC. WATCH pic.twitter.com/mDaYWIGgrl
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) April 2, 2023
The filing of criminal charges against Trump is unprecedented.
A former president has never been charged with a crime, much less convicted.
According to the transcript, Tacopina emphasized that Trump would be pleading innocent to the charges in the Tuesday hearing.
“[W]e will very loudly and proudly say ‘not guilty,'” he said.
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