Former President Donald Trump is ready to surrender “loud and proud” to authorities in New York City, according to his lawyer Joe Tacopina.
During a Monday interview on Kimberly Guilfoyle‘s podcast, Tacopina said an “all-out war” would be fought if Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg goes through with a criminal indictment of Trump accusing him of breaking campaign finance laws with a 2016 hush money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. The ex-president said over the weekend that he expected to be arrested on Tuesday.
Tacopina made the remarks after Guilfoyle, who is engaged to Donald Trump Jr., asked whether the legal team of the former president would be requesting a virtual arraignment. Tacopina said that Trump would refuse to “cower” regardless of the circumstances and would willingly turn himself in to the Manhattan Criminal Court in the event of an in-person arraignment.
“At that point, this is an all-out war,” Tacopina said. “An all-out war. Donald Trump is the toughest human being I’ve ever met. Most people crumble under allegations like this, and with the pressure he’s under from political opponents weaponizing the justice system. Donald Trump’s not going to ask for anything from them.”
“They want him at 100 Centre Street? He’ll be there, loud and proud,” he added. “And there’s nobody that’s gonna make him cower. But again, let’s see where they go, let’s see what the process is. This is all new to everybody.”
Tacopina shrugged off the suggestion that Trump might have to post bail, saying that “you could murder someone in New York City” without bail being required.
He argued that there was “no factual” or legal basis for Trump to be indicted, predicting that a jury would find the former president not guilty if the case goes to trial.
“I honestly cannot believe we are here,” Tacopina said. “They look like they’re gearing up to bring charges. Which they will be very sorry for … They will not win the case.”
Tacopina also said that the case would “destroy confidence in the rule of law in this country forever.”
Former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani suggested that the former president being criminally indicted would have an even bigger impact, claiming that it was “the kind of thing that ends a civilization” in a Newsmax interview on Sunday.
Trump called for his supporters to “protest” and “take back our country” while announcing in a Truth Social post on Sunday that he expected his arrest was imminent, sparking concerns that the remarks could incite violence from Trump supporters.
Bragg reportedly told his staff that he would not “tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York” in an internal memo.
Tacopina has recently faced allegations concerning a possible conflict of interest in representing Trump for the Daniels case, following revelations that she had inquired about him possibly representing her in 2018.
A representative with Tacopina’s law firm told Newsweek that there was no conflict of interest since he had not actually met with Daniels and never acted as her attorney.
“There is no conflict, and there was no attorney-client relationship,” the representative said in an emailed statement. “Joe neither met Stormy Daniels nor reviewed her documents. Instead, someone inquired on her behalf if Joe would represent her, and he of course refused the request.”
Newsweek has reached out to the offices of Trump and Bragg for comment.
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