‘I Had to Follow My Compass’: Ex-Trump Lawyer Tells MSNBC Why He Bailed Just One Day Before E. Jean Carroll Trial
Joe Tacopina, a lawyer who represented former President Donald Trump, sat down for his first interview since bailing on Trump’s legal team on the eve of the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial.
Saturday on MSNBC, Tacopina spoke with Rev. Al Sharpton in what he said would be his “first and only interview” addressing his 11th hour departure from Trump’s defense.
“I left the team because it was just my time,” Tacopina said. “I had to follow my compass, and my compass told me it was my time.”
Tacopina added that he left the case for “personal reasons” which he chose not to discuss. But unlike many of the former president’s attorneys, Tacopina did not go scorched earth on his ex-client.
“While I see many lawyers, ex-lawyers of the president go on television once they’re removed from the team, or leave the team and discuss him, and his legal, team and have something to say, and criticize everyone around, it’s not professional,” Tacopina said. “It’s petty. And it’s it’s it shows a lack of confidence in oneself when you go out there and do that.”
Rev. Sharpton pressed the attorney for more specifics.
“Obviously some things happened that your compass went a different way than where your compass was when you went in,” he said. “And you’re dealing with probably the most unhinged defendant of all-time. Some lawyers say that you never wanted him to take the stand. You know the kind of person he is. I’m not asking you to be specific, but is it your moral compass?”
Tacopina jokingly tried to deflect by complimenting Rev. Sharpton on his jacket. But he wouldn’t go any further than “there were things that just didn’t work out for me.”
Still, Rev. Sharpton noted that even though Tacopina took the high road, his former client might not.
“Donald Trump may have something bad to say about you after coming on my show,” he said.
“That’s okay,” Tacopina said. “That’s that’s part of the playbook.”
And even though Tacopina opted not to badmouth his ex-client, the attorney did offer fairly candid assessments of some of his criminal cases — which don’t figure to sit well with Trump. You can read about that part of the interview here.
Watch above, via MSNBC.
