Trump loses attorney Joe Tacopina as porn star hush money trial looms

Joseph Tacopina has withdrawn as a lawyer for Donald Trump in two major cases facing the former president, one of which could go to trial in two months, the attorney said Monday.

Tacopina declined to comment when asked why he was no longer representing Trump.

His withdrawal from legal matters related to the ex-president came hours before the Iowa Republican caucuses, where Trump is hoping to defeat his GOP challengers by a wide margin.

“President Trump has the most experienced, qualified, disciplined, and overall strongest legal team ever assembled as he continues to fight for America and Americans against these partisan, Crooked Joe Biden-led election interference hoaxes,” Trump spokesman Steven Cheung said in an email when asked about Tacopina’s departure.

Tacopina represented Trump in a civil lawsuit filed by writer E. Jean Carroll, who said he raped her in a New York department store in the mid-1990s, and defamed her in late 2022 when he denied her allegations.

A trial in that case ended with a Manhattan federal court jury finding Trump liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her. The jury also ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.

Trump is appealing that verdict in the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

On Monday, Tacopina filed a notice with the appeals court seeking the withdrawal of his law firm from the case.

A trial on a second, similar defamation lawsuit by Carroll against Trump for comments he made about her while president is set to begin Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. Tacopina was not representing the former president in that case.

Also Monday, Tacopina filed a notice withdrawing from the Manhattan Supreme Court case where he was defending Trump on criminal charges of falsifying business records related to a hush money…