The lawyer for Donald Trump said the former president will not be put in handcuffs when he is formally charged in New York and will not accept any plea after an unprecedented indictment by a Manhattan grand jury Thursday.
Asked during a Friday interview on ABC News' "Good Morning America," whether there will be handcuffs, a mug shot, or a perp walk, Joe Tacopina said: "I'm sure they [prosecutors] will try to get every ounce of publicity they can out of this thing.
"The president will not be put in handcuffs. As far as a mug shot's concerned, perp walk, I'm sure they'll try to make sure they get some joy out of this by parading him.
"But I think this is a different situation. It is a lot of groups involved here, and I don't think they're going to allow this to become a circus, as much as humanly possible."
Tacopina's remarks to ABC echoed the take he shared with Newsmax Thursday evening on "Greg Kelly Reports."
Tacopina told Newsmax that the decision on whether the former president would be put in handcuffs would be up to his Secret Service detail, "and the Secret Service won't allow that, so that's not going to happen."
In an interview on NBC's "Today" show Friday, Tacopina said there is "zero chance" Trump will take a plea deal if one were offered.
"There's no crime," Tacopina said. "I don't know if it's going to make it to trial because we have substantial legal challenges"
Asked if Trump plans to voluntarily surrender for his arraignment, Tacopina said they are working on the logistics now, but Trump is "not going to hole up in Mar-a-Lago."
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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