Former President Trump’s attorney Joe Tacopina declared the rule of law “dead” on Thursday following a Manhattan grand jury voting to indict the 45th president.
Speaking to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday night, Tacopina said Trump was “shocked” by the news, which they learned through media reports instead of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
“He was shocked, you know, because we really weren’t – I was shocked,” the lawyer said of their initial reactions. "I've never been more angry about a charge because today the rule of law in the United States of America died. It's dead. And it's something that I never thought I'd see. I have goosebumps even saying it because I don't feel good about saying it."
Tacopina said he believes the former president will be charged with more than 30 counts of business fraud, likening it to the Soviet-style "you pick the target — the person you don't like… and then you find the crime."
“They’ll take each check and make that a count, perhaps, and that’s how they’ll do it because the checks are paid to Cohen,” he said, arguing this move changes America.
"It never was that way in the United States," Tacopina added. "It's not supposed to be that way, and when we start doing that, we're no better than those other horrific, horrific dictatorships and governments that abused rule of law."
Tacopina said he's convinced the charges are politically motivated.
"There is no one that could ever convince me that this man was not just charged to affect the elections… and that's scary to me," Tacopina noted.
Ultimately, however, the case "will backfire," Tacopina argued, "because we’re gonna win this case. We will humiliate them, and they will pay the price."