A lawyer representing former President Donald Trump called for the New York prosecutor pursuing Trump to be investigated for prosecutorial misconduct.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, published Thursday, attorney Joe Tacopina said he had filed just such a complaint against left-wing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who enjoys the backing of radical billionaire George Soros.
Tacopina, whose client list includes figures such as Michael Jackson and rapper ASAP Rocky, told The Epoch Times that authorities should probe Bragg for using disgraced lawyer Michael Cohen as a witness against Trump.
In the news: Doubts Grow About Left-Wing D.A. Bragg’s Case Against Trump, Even Within Bragg’s Staff
Cohen was Trump’s longtime lawyer. He reportedly paid stripper Stormy Daniels $130,000 on Trump’s behalf during the 2016 campaign to keep her quiet about an affair.
Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels or paying for her silence. Tacopina has said his client actually paid Cohen that amount as legal fees, on the advice of Cohen. He asserts no crime was committed because the money went to Cohen.
Tacopina told Epoch Times that one of Bragg’s prosecutors once said he “can’t envision a world in which he would ever use Michael Cohen as a witness against Donald Trump.”
“But I guess his vision of the world changed, but that’s what he initially said,” Tacopina noted.
Tacopina’s comments came a day after renowned Harvard Law School professor Alan Dershowitz told Fox News anchor Sean Hannity that the DA should be investigated for utilizing Cohen as a star witness before the grand jury.
In the news: Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg Snubbs GOP Demand For Trump Case Info
“I have never seen a weaker case, and, in the end, I really do think that Bragg is worried about his own bar card,” Dershowitz told Hannity.
“I think he’s worried that [if] he brings this case, and he uses a witness who he has to know is lying, there could be investigations of [Bragg], and there should be investigations,” Dershowitz said.
Tacopina told Epoch Times that Cohen has changed his story about whether Daniels was paid “hush money” at Trump’s direction.
“Of course, you can’t make a case on the word of Michael Cohen. He’s a pathological convicted liar—someone who has absolutely no credibility,” Tacopina said.
As The Epoch Times recounted, Cohen originally said in February 2018 that he paid Daniels out of his own pocket. He later claimed that he made the payment at Trump’s direction and that the Trump Organization reimbursed him for legal expenses.
Trump has said the payment was part of Cohen’s monthly retainer.
The Epoch Times noted that Tacopina filed a formal ethics complaint against Bragg with the New York City Department of Investigation on March 10.
Tacopina told DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber in a letter that Bragg and other prosecutors had committed prosecutorial misconduct because of a “personal and political animus” against Trump.
Bragg, former District Attorney Cyrus Vance, former New York District Attorney’s Office General Counsel Carey Dunne, and former Special Assistant District Attorney Mark Pomerantz were all named in Tacopina’s complaint.
In the news: Op-Ed: Indicting Trump Has Nothing To Do With The Law. Here’s Why
“Plainly, their own actions and/or words establish that Cyrus Vance, Carey Dunne, and Mark Pomerantz picked a person they hated for political reasons and targeted him for prosecution to harm his ability to run for national office,” Tacopina wrote in the letter.
One example he cited of their hatred of Trump included Pomerantz’s book “People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.”
“I saw him as a malignant narcissist, and perhaps a megalomaniac who posed a real danger to the country and to the ideas that mattered to me,” Pomerantz wrote, the Epoch Times reported. “His behavior made me angry, sad, and even disgusted.”
Tacopina argued the hatred was obvious because Bragg’s office resurrected a “zombie case” based on dubious legal theories.
“Did he do anything wrong as far as failing to report any campaign expenditure? And the answer is 100 percent no, because there’s no campaign finance law violation, there’s no anything violation,” Tacopina told The Epoch Times.
“Nothing else matters.”
Android Users, Click To Download The Free Press App And Never Miss A Story. Follow Us On Facebook and Twitter . Signup for our free newsletter . We can’t do this without your help; visit our GiveSendGo page and donate any dollar amount; every penny helps.