‘You’re being petty!’ Trump lawyer berates NBC host for asking about how the ex-president classified the Stormy Daniels’ hush money payment as legal fees in his personal records
- Trump’s personal attorney Joe Tacopina became furious during an interview Sunday morning when talking about the Manhattan DA’s case against his client
- Accused NBC host Chuck Todd of being ‘petty’ by asking why Trump’s personal ledger didn’t detail what the legal fees were for to Cohen at the time
- Trump was not indicted this week because the grand jury did not meet despite reports he would be arrested in the Stormy Daniels hush money payment case
Donald Trump’s lawyer in the Stormy Daniels hush money case tore into NBC host Chuck Todd during a furious clash Sunday morning over how the former president classified the payment in his personal records.
Joe Tacopina accused Todd of being ‘petty’ and maintained that Trump was not aware his lawyer at the time Michael Cohen had paid Daniels during the 2016 campaign to remain quiet about their sexual encounter a decade earlier.
The discord on NBC’s Meet the Press interview saw Todd questioning why Trump didn’t ‘tell the truth’ is his personal ledger that the ‘legal fees’ he paid to Cohen at the time were actually a reimbursement for paying Daniel’s a hush money settlement.
This set off Tacopina, who began representing former President Trump earlier this year.
Donald Trump’s personal attorney Joe Tacopina became furious during an interview Sunday morning when talking about the Manhattan DA’s case against his client for allegedly reimbursing his lawyer-at-the-time Michael Cohen for a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels
Tacopina accused NBC host Chuck Todd of being ‘petty’ by asking why Trump’s personal ledger didn’t detail what the legal fees were for to Cohen at the time
‘But what was he supposed to put in his personal ledger?’ Tacopina questioned. ‘Seriously, what would he put in his personal ledger? ‘Uh, payment for hush money to, um, quiet, uh, an affair I claim I never had so my family doesn’t get embarrassed.’ Is that what he should put in his ledger? There’s nothing wrong with –’
‘How about the truth?’ Todd cut-in. ‘You keep saying, what should be in the ledger? Should it be the truth?’
‘Chuck, would you ever put a four paragraph sentence to a ledger?’ the lawyer quipped.
‘You’re being a little bit petty when you’re looking at this now, because there is no filing obligation,’ Tacopina added. ‘You can put whatever you want in your personal ledger.’
Trump claimed last weekend that he expected to be arrested Tuesday in connection with Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s case regarding the 2016 payments.
Republicans in the House insist that Bragg is overstepping his jurisdiction as Manhattan DA – and say that he should keep his focus on prosecuting crime in New York City rather than pursuing ‘politically motivated’ cases.
The grand jury, however, did not meet this week and no indictment was handed down despite several reports claiming the action was imminent.
Trump’s lawyer maintains that his client denies allegations of a sexual relationship with Stormy Daniels – he also has called the $130,000 hush money a ‘nuisance payment’ that wealthy or famous people sometimes use to make a distracting situation disappear
Trump’s counsel maintains that he was not aware that Cohen made the payment, although the former attorney for the ex-president says that he was instructed to give the money to Daniels in exchange for her silence about the affair.
Cohen is a key witness in Bragg’s case, even though sources tell DailyMail.com he is having trouble convincing the grand jury to indict.
Tacopina detailed that the payment Trump made to Cohen was not improper on the part of the former president.
‘It was legal fees that was invoiced by Michael Cohen, who arranged this on his own, with his own money, initially,’ he explained to Todd. ‘Took out a loan, literally, resolved this without the president knowing, came back, and then sent a bill in for four times the amount over the course of a year it was paid off.’
