Joe Tacopina, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, has expressed the possibility of the former president being convicted in one of his federal cases.
What Happened: Tacopina, in an interview with MSNBC, on Sunday, highlighted the severity of some of Trump’s federal cases. When asked if it is possible for Trump to be convicted, Tacopina responded affirmatively.
“Oh, is it possible? Absolutely,” Tacopina said. “You have a jury of 12 who's going to ultimately decide this. Jack Smith is a federal prosecutor who I knew from his days in Brooklyn. …They're serious prosecutors, and these are federal cases and you have a jury here.”
Trump is currently facing four felony counts in Washington, D.C., related to allegations of involvement in a conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and leading a campaign to block the certification of votes for President Joe Biden on Jan. 6, 2021.
When asked if he believed the cases were “good cases” and “not just politics,” Tacopina acknowledged a political aspect but also noted that the grand jury had voted to indict Trump.
"Look, do I think there's a political bent to some of this, some of the way this was gone about? Yes, I do," Tacopina said.
"Do I think these cases are invalid cases? Look, the grand jury voted to indict, and he's going to have to face a jury in Washington, D.C."
The former president is also facing charges in Florida, Georgia, and New York City, in addition to the federal charges in Washington, D.C. In total, Trump faces 91 felony counts across four federal and state indictments.
Tacopina, who previously represented Trump in a hush-money case, has withdrawn from both that case and Trump’s appeal of a sexual battery civil lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll.
Why It Matters: This comes amid a series of legal challenges the former president is facing. The cases, which include both federal and state charges, are spread across multiple locations, including New York City, Washington, Atlanta, Florida, and Georgia. The former president has denied any wrongdoings and dubbed the cases a "witch hunt."
Meanwhile, another former White House lawyer Ty Cobb also raised a red flag about the potential threat posed by former President Trump to the democratic system. Cobb was responding to a legal argument from Trump's team that suggested a former president could use presidential immunity to justify actions like ordering the assassination of a political opponent by SEAL Team Six.
The former president is a leading Republican in most election polls for the 2024 presidential election despite facing multiple federal charges. The latest Morning Consult poll of GOP voters showed Trump with a comfortable 52-point lead over his Republican opponents, which dropped from a 55-point lead in the previous two polls.
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