U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R-SC), who is considered a top VP pick of the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, made a video of himself calling Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan a “hoax.” (A jury found Trump guilty on 34 felony counts for falsifying business documents to cover up a scandal with adult film star Stormy Daniels and influence the 2016 presidential election.)
Scott dramatically repeated the MAGA claim that the American justice system is weaponized by the federal government and President Joe Biden, Trump’s opponent.
On the MSNBC show PoliticsNation, host Rev. Al Sharpton showed the video to Joe Tacopina, former personal attorney for Trump. Tacopina responded to the video: “Tim Scott is someone I used to respect but I lost a lot of respect from what I just heard because he sounds so uneducated, unintelligent, and made no sense at all.”
Former Trump Attorney: “Tim Scott is someone who I used to respect, but I lost a lot of respect from what I just heard… To say that Biden brought this case is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard. Even Trump’s lawyers know that is not the case.”pic.twitter.com/TgXBMo0DJa
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) June 2, 2024
Note: Tacopina represented Trump in his civil case in which the former president was found liable for sexually assaulting and defaming E. Jean Carroll, and he was on the “hush money” defense team until he withdrew from the case in January. Tacopina also withdrew from working on an appeal of the Carroll verdict.
Tacopina pointed out to Sharpton that Trump’s criminal trial in New York was a state case not a federal case and the Department of Justice has no jurisdiction over the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. “So to say that Joe Biden brought this case is one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard…even Trump’s lawyers know that’s not the case,” he said.
Note: Trump is being federally prosecuted by Special Counsel Jack Smith for his alleged involvement in trying to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and for the mishandling of classified documents after Trump left the White House and refused to surrender those documents to the FBI.