Trump's Attorney Hopes Ex-President's Appearance at NY Court Done in 'Efficient' Way

NEW YORK (Sputnik), Lenka White - Trump’s legal team hopes that his appearance at a New York court is done in an efficient and standard way and will conclude within half an hour, his attorney Joe Tacopina told Sputnik.

Last week, a grand jury in Manhattan voted to indict former President Donald Trump on charges related to his alleged involvement in a hush money payment and subsequent cover-up involving a purported affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels.

The former US president denies the allegations and the affair with Daniels. He has characterized the case as a "witch hunt."

"In some ways, it should just be a normal arraignment at 100 Center Street, which is, you know, we go there, we get processed, we meet the judge, we say not guilty, we set a schedule and we leave. That's how it should be. Obviously it's gonna be different tomorrow. We have the Secret Service involved and, you know, the security issues that are not normally present," Tacopina said.

The attorney said he doesn't know what it's going to be like, "except a circus-like atmosphere."

"But hopefully the court part is done in an efficient and standard way, and I hope we're just gonna end there, you know, within a half hour."

Trump is not expected to be handcuffed during his arraignment, but a mugshot and other regular operating procedures will take place, Tacopina added, ahead of Tuesday's arraignment.

"No handcuffs are going to be involved, the Secret Service is guarding him and what not," Tacopina said on Monday. "Everything else, pictures [mugshot] and stuff, regular operating procedures, that'll probably happen. I'm sure the District Attorney's Office is going to try and make a big show out of this to get more publicity out of it."

Tacopina said that he is not yet aware of the exact number of counts the former US president has been charged with, but is not very concerned since all of them stem from the same allegation.

"As far as the amount of charges or the counts, we don't know yet, but it's all going to be around the same thing [hush money payments]. And you know, they could extrapolate and make one check, one count, another check, another count. So there's different ways to do it. But I'm not that concerned about the number of charges: all emanate from the same allegation," Tacopina told Sputnik.

The attorney believes the case is "ridiculous, in a lot of ways," and has labeled the case as a "political persecution".

"We're entering a dangerous area where politics have influence over the justice system, and politics are being used to weaponize the prosecutors' offices," Tacopina said. "As I said, you know, it's a Democratic prosecutor supported by Democratic financiers, his campaign, going after the right-wing candidate, the Republican candidate."

"The only thing we'll reply immediately with is not guilty. That's what we'll say tomorrow and we'll go from there. Obviously, we'll take time to evaluate the indictment and see what motions we want to file once we get all the discovery, so it takes some time."

Apart from saying "not guilty," the former president "won't say a word," the lawyer stated.

"And then, you know, what he does afterwards, that's up to him," Tacopina said of his client.

Using prosecutors as political weapons against former President Donald Trump sets a dangerous precedent, Tacopina said.

"It's a dangerous new trend in this country, that we're now using prosecutors' offices as political weapons, but that's what's happening. And that's what this is. There's no question about that," Tacopina said.

Now it’s Donald Trump but tomorrow it could be a Democrat, he added.

Tacopina believes that this whole case is based on the hatred and fear rivals have for the former president.