Attorney Joe Tacopina withdrew from Donald Trump's legal team in the former president's New York City criminal trial on Monday, according to reports.
Tacopina's move was included in a notice sent to the court, The New York Times reported.
Tacopina also withdrew from another case in which he was still legally representing Trump — an appeal of the verdict in a lawsuit brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll.
"I withdrew on all matters," Tacopina told ABC News.
The Times reported it was not clear why Tacopina withdrew from the cases.
The trial brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg could begin as early as March, when another Trump trial, in which Trump is accused of illegally trying to subvert the 2020 election, also is scheduled to begin.
"President Trump has the most experienced, qualified, disciplined, and overall strongest legal team ever assembled as he continues to fight for America and Americans against these partisan, Crooked Joe Biden-led election interference hoaxes," spokesperson Steven Cheung said in a statement, The Messenger reported.
Tacopina's withdrawals came a day before jury selection is scheduled to begin in a second trial stemming from the allegations brought by Carroll, who accused Trump of raping her in a department store dressing room in the 1990s.
Carroll last spring was awarded $5 million in damages. Trump is appealing.
Tacopina is not counsel in the second Carroll case about to begin, but he was still representing Trump in his appeal of last year's verdict, The Hill reported.
Trump recently told the Times that he wants to testify in the new trial, and that Tacopina had advised him against doing so in the first trial, something the former president regrets.
Tacopina used in his close arguments in the first trial to say jurors were entitled to their personal views of Trump.
"It's OK however you feel about him," Tacopina said. "I said this before. You could hate Donald Trump. It's OK. But there is a time and a secret place to do that. It's called a ballot box during an election. It's not here."
Tacopina accompanied the former president when Trump pleaded not guilty in April to charges that he falsified business records stemming from his hush payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
In November, a New York grievance panel denied Daniels' request that Tacopina be excused from the case because of the attorney's past dealings with her.
Several months earlier, the judge overseeing the case issued a similar ruling, CNN reported.
Tacopina, a New York-based defense lawyer, has a long history of trial court wins. He has represented former baseball star Alex Rodriguez and the rapper A$AP Rocky.
Lawyer Todd Blanche also represents Trump, the Times reported.
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Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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