OAN Brooke Mallory
UPDATED 1:42 PM – Friday, March 31, 2023
A New York Grand jury decided on Thursday to indict Donald Trump over alleged hush-money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election, however, Trump’s attorney insisted that the 45th president would not be handcuffed.
Joe Tacopina, Trump’s defense lawyer, said that the indictment stunned both Trump and his team, especially after journalists from numerous networks were misled by “insider” sources regarding information about how the Manhattan DA was planning to take a month-long (or more) break before making any indictment decisions.
“I feel like the rule of law died yesterday in this country, and it’s not something I’m happy about… This is unprecedented in this country’s history. I don’t know what to expect other than an arraignment,” said Tacopina.
Tacopina described what would most likely occur in his perspective.
Trump will enter the courtroom, it will close, and then he will plead “not guilty” in front of the judge. His legal team will submit motions challenging the indictment, claiming that “the legal liability of this case” is unfounded.
“I’m sure they’ll try to get every ounce of publicity from this thing… The president will not be put in handcuffs. I’m sure they’ll try to make sure they get some joy out of this by parading him.” Tacopina said, referring to Trump’s prosecutors.
Tacopina maintained that the 45th president’s Secret Service detail would decide whether to place him in cuffs, and that “the Secret Service won’t allow that, so that’s not going to happen.”
He also reassured that the Secret Service and the state and city police of New York are not “going to allow this to become a circus, at least as much as humanly possible.”
New York police have been instructed to arrive on Friday and be ready for “unusual disorder,” according to a letter obtained by the press.
On Friday morning, the indictment was still under seal, so it was unclear how many charges Trump was facing for the payment he allegedly made to Daniels and for which he later allegedly reimbursed his former attorney Michael Cohen.
Cohen ended up going to prison for crimes connected to the Daniels case, turned on the former president, and testified against him before the Grand jury.
Trump is reportedly being accused of corporate fraud on at least 30 charges. It is the first-time in history that a former U.S. president has been criminally indicted.
Trump will most likely be fingerprinted and photographed, though it’s still unknown if he’ll be handcuffed, even if his attorney is convinced that the Secret Service will not let it happen.
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