Trump lawyer anticipates motion to dismiss charges in Manhattan indictment

by Julia Mueller - 04/02/23 10:31 AM ET

Joseph Tacopina, attorney for Nauman Hussain, who was charged with 20 counts of second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2018, limousine crash talks about his client who made a plea deal for probation and no jail time. Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, in Schoharie, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

Attorney Joe Tacopina, who represents former President Trump, said on Sunday that he anticipates a motion to dismiss still not-yet-known charges in an indictment voted on by a Manhattan grand jury last week in a hush money case.

Tacopina said the legal team has yet to see the indictment, which remains under seal but would “dissect” to determine how to move forward.

“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, and of course I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there’s no law that fits this,” Tacopina said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

Tacopina said he doesn’t “even know really what brings us here” and argued Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “has taken a a misdemeanor and tried, cobbled together, to make it a felony.”

Trump was indicted last week for his alleged role in organizing hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He’s now the first U.S. president – current or former – to face criminal charges.

Bragg’s office said Thursday that they’d reached out to Trump to coordinate his surrender, and the former president is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. Tacopina on Sunday said he hopes the process will be “painless and classy.”