On Friday morning as he was preparing to board Marine One, President Joe Biden frequently sidestepped queries from reporters about the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
After Trump’s lawyers and the Manhattan district attorney confirmed on Thursday that the former president had been indicted by a grand jury in association with an alleged $130,000 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, the questions began to be asked.
To the question, “I have no comment on that,” Biden told a reporter.
Biden was questioned about potential protests after Trump’s arrest and responded, “No, I’m not going to talk about Trump’s indictment.”
I have nothing to say about Trump,” Biden told another interviewer.
Biden responded, “I have no comment on Trump,” when asked if he believed the charge was “politically motivated.”
Trump’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, told reporters on Friday morning that he does not anticipate his client being cuffed when he surrenders to New York police next week.
Trump “will not accept a plea deal in this case.” Tacopina said as much in an interview with NBC News. No criminal activity has been detected. I doubt it will go to trial because we face significant judicial hurdles.
Tacopina said in an interview with ABC News that Trump was “shocked” to learn of the indictment against him.
This has never happened before in our nation. He said, “I have no idea what to anticipate, other than a trial. It has been brought to my attention that the area immediately surrounding the courtroom will be cordoned off and the court itself will be closed. We intend to appear before a judge at some time, enter a not guilty plea, and instantly begin discussing the filing of motions to challenge the case’s legal viability.
To “get every ounce of publicity they can out of this thing,” Tacopina said prosecutors would do whatever they could.
He reaffirmed that the president would not be arrested or restrained in any way. I’m confident they’ll attempt to make sure they get some pleasure out of this by parading him, and that includes a mugshot and a perp walk.
But, you know, I think this is a distinct case,” he went on. “There are a number of parties involved, and I highly doubt that they will allow this to devolve into a circus.”
There are currently three active criminal investigations into Trump, including one by the federal government into his efforts to remain in power after the 2020 election, one by the state of Georgia into allegations of meddling in the 2020 election, and one by the federal government into his handling of U.S. government records after leaving office.