Trump loses attorney Joe Tacopina as porn star hush money trial looms

Joseph
Tacopina
has
withdrawn
as
a
lawyer
for

Donald
Trump
in
two
major

cases
facing
the
former

president,
one
of
which
could
go
to
trial
in
two
months,
the
attorney
said
Monday.

Tacopina
declined
to
comment
when
asked
why
he
was
no
longer
representing
Trump.

His
withdrawal
from
legal
matters
related
to
the
ex-president
came
hours
before
the

Iowa
Republican
caucuses,
where
Trump
is
hoping
to
defeat
his
GOP
challengers
by
a
wide
margin.

“President
Trump
has
the
most
experienced,
qualified,
disciplined,
and
overall
strongest
legal
team
ever
assembled
as
he
continues
to
fight
for
America
and
Americans
against
these
partisan,
Crooked
Joe
Biden-led
election
interference
hoaxes,”
Trump
spokesman
Steven
Cheung
said
in
an
email
when
asked
about
Tacopina’s
departure.

Tacopina
represented
Trump
in
a
civil
lawsuit
filed
by
writer
E.
Jean
Carroll,
who
said
he
raped
her
in
a
New
York
department
store
in
the
mid-1990s,
and
defamed
her
in
late
2022
when
he
denied
her
allegations.

A
trial
in
that
case
ended
with
a
Manhattan
federal
court
jury
finding
Trump
liable
for
sexually
abusing
Carroll
and
defaming
her.
The
jury
also
ordered
Trump
to
pay
Carroll
$5
million
in
damages.

Trump
is
appealing
that
verdict
in
the
2nd
Circuit
U.S.
Court
of
Appeals.

On
Monday,
Tacopina
filed
a
notice
with
the
appeals
court
seeking
the
withdrawal
of
his
law
firm
from
the
case.

A
trial
on
a
second,
similar
defamation
lawsuit
by
Carroll
against
Trump
for
comments
he
made
about
her
while
president
is
set
to
begin
Tuesday
in
Manhattan
federal
court.
Tacopina
was
not
representing
the
former
president
in
that
case.

Also
Monday,
Tacopina
filed
a
notice
withdrawing
from
the
Manhattan
Supreme
Court
case
where
he
was
defending
Trump
on
criminal
charges
of
falsifying
business
records
related
to
a
hush
money
payment
to
the
porn
star
Stormy
Daniels.

Trump’s
then-personal
lawyer
Michael
Cohen
paid
Daniels
$130,000
on
the
eve
of
the
2016
presidential
election
to
keep
her
quiet
about
her
account
of
having
sex
with
Trump
years
earlier.

Trump,
who
denies
having
sex
with
Daniels,
reimbursed
Cohen
for
the
payment
and
other
related
costs,
which
were
recorded
by
the
Trump
Organization
as
legal
expenses.

Trump
pleaded
not
guilty
in
that
case,
which
is
tentatively
scheduled
to
begin
trial
in
March.
He
continues
to
be
represented
in
the
case
by
Susan
Necheles
and
Todd
Blanche.

Trump
also
faces
three
other
pending
criminal
cases,
all
of
which
he
has
pleaded
not
guilty
to.

In
Washington,
D.C.,
federal
court,
Trump
is
charged
with
crimes
related
to
his
attempt
to
reverse
his
loss
in
the
2020
election
to
President
Joe
Biden,
and
to
his
incitement
of
the
Jan.
6,
2021,
Capitol
riot
by
a
mob
of
his
supporters.

Trump
faces
racketeering
charges
in
Atlanta
state
court
related
to
his
efforts
to
overturn
Biden’s
2020
election
victory
in
Georgia.

He
is
also
charged
in
Florida
federal
court
with
crimes
connected
to
his
retention
of
classified
government
records
after
leaving
the
White
House
in
January
2021,
and
his
efforts
to
block
officials
from
recovering
those
documents.

Last
week,
closing
arguments
were
heard
in
a
major
business
fraud
civil
trial
against
Trump
in
Manhattan
Supreme
Court,
where
New
York
Attorney
General
Letitia
James
is
seeking
$370
million
in
damages
and
a
lifetime
ban
on
him
from
the
state’s
real
estate
business.