Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer said there is “zero chance” the 45th president will take a plea deal after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted him, and indicated his team would file motions to dismiss the case, although the indictment has not yet been unsealed.
“President Trump will not take a plea deal on this case. It’s not gonna happen,” Tacopina told NBC News on Friday, adding there is “zero chance” it will happen. “There’s no crime. I don’t know if it’s gonna make it to trial because we have substantial legal challenges.”
Trump is “not going to hole up in Mar-a-Lago,” he said. The indictment targeting Trump has not been unsealed, as typically a court will make it public after a defendant appears in court for their arraignment.
In a separate interview with ABC News, Tacopina said that Thursday’s development “was a shock” for Trump. “At the end of the day, we were really hoping and he was hoping that the rule of law would’ve prevailed,” he added. “In my opinion—and I don’t say this with pride or pleasure—in my 32 years as a lawyer, both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, I feel like the rule of law died yesterday in this country.”
“This is unprecedented in this country’s history. I don’t know what to expect other than an arraignment,” he remarked. “I understand they’re going to be closing off blocks around the courthouse, shutting down the courthouse. You know, we’ll go in there and we’ll proceed to see a judge at some point, plead not guilty, start talking about filing motions, which we will do immediately and very aggressively regarding the legal viability of this case.”
Another lawyer representing Trump in a separate case, Jim Trusty, told CNN that he believes the former president’s legal team will attempt to dismiss the charges before it gets to trial. Several legal experts have made similar remarks, arguing that Trump could try to get the case tossed because of the statute of limitations or because Bragg’s case against him is based on a faulty legal theory.
“I would think in very short order, you’ll see a motion to dismiss—or several motions to dismiss,” Trusty told CNN, adding that those filings will likely be submitted within “days.”
