Soon, former President Donald Trump may face another in the handful of consequences he has experienced for many actions in his life if he is indicted and arrested in New York either today or later on. He is represented by attorney Joe Tacopina in the case surrounding alleged campaign finance violations over a payment to Stormy Daniels, and earlier, Tacopina thought it was illegal.
Right now, the above clip from CNN coverage in 2018 is circulating on Twitter. In the 45 seconds, Tacopina says the payment to Daniels to cover up a claimed sexual tryst with Trump is fair game if it was made on behalf of him and not declared. He also says this would be an illegal agreement and fraud if this is in fact the case and this would be a potential campaign finance issue. This is a far cry from Tacopina saying he and Trump are in an all-out war with prosecutors in Manhattan now and Tacopina does not appear to have commented on whether he has changed his mind about the merits of the case as of this story being published.
Though, even if he and his team stay silent, several are roasting what they see as hypocrisy and convenient forgetfulness.
In quoted re-tweets from another outlet which picked up the footage, a different critic of Trump wonders who of Trump or his attorney is a bigger train wreck. Furthermore, he adds this just piles on to the former president’s iffy track record with checking out employees in both his time as a businessman and the revolving door sequence of those who served him within the White House.
Additionally, Tacopina has previously admitted he was approached by Daniels for possible representation. In general, in court cases, something like this is a major no-no if you are trying to represent one of the other parties involved. Those who saw Marriage Story may remember even just meeting with a divorce lawyer bars the spouse you are trying to separate from from hiring them and one legal expert posted a thread breaking down just why Trump may end up needing to switch his representation in the coming days.
Of course, what will happen next remains to be seen. As of right now, there is no indication Trump is back in New York. If he were to be indicted, it would be the first instance of this happening to a former president in all of American history up to this moment.