A lawyer for former President Donald Trump said he feels the country is “on the eve of destruction” ahead of the former president’s arraignment on Tuesday.
Trump attorney Joe Tacopina told Fox News host Sean Hannity Monday that it was “extraordinary” the arraignment was even happening because of how many people had denied there was a case, including the Department of Justice.
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“What’s extraordinary is that tomorrow is even happening. I feel like we are on the eve of destruction,” Tacopina said.
“The FEC has turned us down, federal prosecutors have turned us down, anyone that has looked at this case has said there is no violation.”
Hannity asked Tacopina whether there would be any surprises in Tuesday’s proceedings, such as the former president getting handcuffed or “perp walked.” Tacopina did not directly answer the question, but he confirmed Trump would plead “not guilty.”
“We can’t know for sure what’s going to happen tomorrow, except that we will plead very loudly that he is not guilty and go from there,” Tacopina said.
Tacopina later said that there was “zero chance” Trump would plead guilty to any of the charges because he “did nothing wrong. Not a misdemeanor, not a felony. Not a traffic ticket. There is nothing here.”
Tacopina also denied the possibility of the judge placing a gag order on the former president. He claimed there was “no scenario” in which he saw that playing out. Critics of the indictment, including Roger Stone, have claimed that if a gag order was placed on Trump, it would be election interference because Trump is running for president in 2024.
Trump is expected to be fingerprinted at the New York Supreme Court, where the arraignment will take place on Tuesday. He is not expected to be arrested, and he will fly back to Florida to speak at his Mar-a-Lago resort on Tuesday night.
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The proceeding comes less than a week after Trump was indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in an ongoing investigation into the former president’s alleged role in a $130,000 “hush money” payment to pornstar Stormy Daniels in 2016. The indictment was approved by a grand jury on Thursday.
Trump is facing at least one felony charge. The full list of charges is expected to be unsealed after the arraignment.
