Donald Trump’s lawyer Joe Tacopina said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that if the former president is indicted in the Manhattan district attorney’s office grand jury investigation of a 2016 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, it is an attempt to weaponize the justice system to take the vote “out of the voters’ hands.”
Melber said, “Here is how it was put by the feds, Cohen, with the assistance of corporation one, arranged for the purchase of those stories to suppress them and prevent them from influencing the election. The new reporting is — I want to get the benefit of your response, prosecutors could argue that $130,000 became a donation to Trump’s campaign under the theory the money was silencing Daniels befitting his candidacy.”
Melber asked, “Why lie about this and why misidentify the payment if it was legal?”
Tacopina said, “A donation to his campaign by himself, that’s what it would be.”
He continued, “Here’s the deal. First of all, crucial distinction between separating campaign funds from personal funds. On personal funds usage, here’s the bright line test, and it ends this case and any case related to Stormy Daniels. If the spending or the fulfillment of a commitment or expenditure would exist irrespective of a campaign, it’s not a campaign violation. End of story. This would have existed independent of the campaign.”
Melber said, “You sound like someone who’s bracing for a charge.”
Tacopina said, “Only because I’m listening to this stuff. I still got hope they are not going to do this because I think this will be an enormous stain on the legacy of that district attorney. For the last three years, they scoured every record of Donald Trump.”
He added, “To me if they are perusing this matter, it is weaponizing the justice system to keep this guy out of office. Donald Trump is going to win the election. If they bring this case, I believe this will catapult him into the White House. I believe that because this will show how they’re weaponizing the justice system. They are taking the vote out of the voters’ hands.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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