The choose in New York prosecutors’ hush cash case in opposition to Donald Trump mentioned lawyer Joe Tacopina can proceed representing the previous president regardless of the lawyer’s prior dealings with Stormy Daniels.
Manhattan prosecutors had flagged Tacopina’s earlier communications with the porn star as a battle of curiosity, as she is on the heart of their case. However in a letter dated Sept. 1, Decide Juan Merchan disagreed, writing that “there is no conflict.”
Tacopina welcomed the choose’s choice.
“I have said from Day One there is no conflict,” he mentioned in an announcement shared with CNN and ABC Information. “Now the court has said the same.”
Clark Brewster, a lawyer for Daniels, instructed CNN in March he gave the prosecution communications that Daniels had had with Tacopina and others at Tacopina’s regulation agency in 2018 when she was in search of authorized counsel. Brewster claimed the exchanges demonstrated Tacopina had entry to Daniels’ confidential info.
Whereas the choose sided with Tacopina, he mentioned he’ll convey up the difficulty with the previous president early subsequent 12 months.
“Nonetheless, in an excess of caution, the Court will revisit this issue with Mr. Trump when he next appears virtually on February 15, 2024,” Merchan wrote.
Merchan additionally accepted Tacopina’s provide to not look at Daniels if she known as as a witness by the prosecution.
On the heart of the case introduced by Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin Bragg is a $130,000 cost Daniels acquired within the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election to maintain quiet about an alleged affair with Trump years prior. A Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump in April on 34 counts of falsifying enterprise information.
Trump has denied wrongdoing.
The trial’s begin date is presently slated for March 25, however the choose has signaled he’s open to altering it given Trump’s “rapidly evolving trial schedule.”
Other than the Manhattan case, Trump has been indicted three extra occasions over his alleged mishandling of labeled paperwork, his efforts to undo the 2020 election, and his scheme to overturn Joe Biden’s win in Georgia.
