When Former Trump Lawyer Claimed It’s ‘Absolutely Possible’ for Him to Be Convicted in Criminal Case
Former President Donald Trump's ex-attorney, Joe Tacopina, made a negative forecast for his former client's upcoming legal proceedings and asserted that it is "absolutely possible" that Trump could be found guilty in one of his federal criminal trials.
One day before the commencement of E. Jean Carroll's second defamation trial, Tacopina announced that he was no longer defending Trump “on all matters,” per HuffPost. He submitted requests to remove his legal practice from both the appeal of the first Carroll trial's verdict and Trump's criminal prosecution in New York.
“As much as I’d love to discuss them,” Tacopina told MSNBC's Al Sharpton. Tacopina said he finds it inappropriate when other former Trump attorneys debate and criticize the former president on television. Some of Trump's federal lawsuits are “serious” and “not to be taken lightly,” Tacopina opined, per The Hill.
In response to a question from Sharpton about whether Trump could be found guilty in one of his criminal cases, Tacopina said, “Oh, is it possible? Absolutely.” Tacopina explained, “You have a jury of 12 who’s going to ultimately decide this. I knew Jack Smith was a federal prosecutor from his days in Brooklyn. … They’re serious prosecutors, and these are federal cases and you have a jury here.”
Trump is charged with four felonies in the Washington, D.C. case launched by Special Counsel Jack Smith based on charges that he participated in a scheme to defraud the United States. The lawsuit claims that Trump was at the forefront of a scheme to prevent President Biden's votes from being certified on January 6, 2021. Smith is also in charge of Trump's legal defense regarding the mishandling of secret documents at his Mar a Lago residence. In both cases, Trump has entered a not-guilty plea.
Sharpton probed Tacopina further to find out whether he thought they were “good cases” and “not just politics.” Tacopina responded, “Look, do I think there’s a political bent to some of this, some of the way this was gone about? Yes, I do.” The Brooklyn lawyer added, “Do I think these cases are invalid? Look, the grand jury voted to indict, and he will have to face a jury in Washington, D.C.”
Before announcing that he would be withdrawing from Trump's defense team, Tacopina represented Trump in the hush money case and his appeal of a civil complaint alleging sexual abuse brought by longtime advice columnist E. Jean Carroll.
Three of Trump's trial locations—New York City, Washington, and Atlanta—are "not particularly big Trump venues," according to Tacopina. “So that’s going to be something to grapple with there,” he said. “And you can’t say, ‘There’s no way he’ll get convicted.'”
Editor's note: This article was originally published on January 25, 2024. It has since been updated.
