Defense Attorney Joe Tacopina Withdraws From Trump’s Legal Team

Famed defense attorney Joe Tacopina is no longer part of former President Donald Trump’s legal team. Tacopina, who represented the ex-president in two New York cases, informed the judge overseeing Trump’s “hush money” case on Monday that he was stepping down as counsel. “I write to respectfully inform the Court that my firm, Chad Seigel and I hereby withdraw as counsel for Defendant Donald J. Trump in this proceeding,” Tacopina wrote in a letter to Judge Juan Merchan. Reached for comment, Tacopina declined to tell The Daily Beast why he’s out as Trump’s attorney. Tacopina accompanied the former president when he pleaded not guilty in April to felony charges of falsifying records related to payments to Daniels. The attorney also represented Trump in the civil defamation and sexual battery case brought by columnist E. Jean Carroll. The ex-president has already been found liable and ordered to pay Carroll $5 million in damages and is now facing a second defamation trial. Susan Necheles, meanwhile, remains Trump's lead counsel in the “hush money” case, which is expected to see Daniels testify.

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