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By Kate Plummer
Senior US News Reporter
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Donald Trump losing three of the lawyers involved in his legal cases is "bleak" news for the former president, Michael Cohen said.
Joe Tacopina and his two partners, Chad Seigel and Matthew DeOreo, withdrew after representing Trump in a case in which he is accused of falsifying business records over a hush money payment to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair secret during the 2016 campaign. Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts.
They also withdrew from a damages trial after a New York City jury awarded E. Jean Carroll, a journalist, $5 million in damages in May, ruling that Trump had sexually assaulted her and was liable for defamation.
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Legal analysts said the lawyers quitting could be a problem for Trump, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
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"Finding competent counsel has plagued Donald for many years now due to his erratic legal requests and delinquent payment history, " Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney, told Newsweek.
"The cases coming to fruition are all significant and require expertise in handling by legitimate attorneys, not small-claims litigators or parking lot attorneys. Donald's outcome remains bleak."
Matthew Mangino, a former district attorney in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, said: "The old saying 'Never switch horses mid-stream' applies here. Trump, on the verge of trial, is in trouble if he has to bring new counsel on board. However, Trump is different than your typical litigant. He is also running for president and for political reasons wants to grandstand and play the victim—'everyone is out to get me, even my own lawyers.'
"That may earn him some sympathy in the court of public opinion but not the court of law."
Writing on her Substack blog, Mary Trump, the former president's estranged niece and frequent critic said: "The loss of counsel is a major set back for any defense.
"This close to trial, lawyers will have spent hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours compiling evidence and gaining an understanding of the nuances of the case.
"New lawyers might not have to start from scratch, but catching up would be a difficult task."
Tacopina filed a declaration requesting the withdrawal of his firm's representation of the former president in the Carroll case on Monday. He also requested that Judge Lewis Kaplan allow Tacopina's partners to withdraw.
"I respectfully submit this Declaration in support of [Tacopina Seigel and DeOreo's] motion, made pursuant to Local Civil Rule 27.1, to withdraw as counsel [including TSD attorneys Joseph Tacopina, Chad D. Seigel and Matthew G. DeOreo] for Trump, with such other and further relief as the Court deems just and proper," Tacopina wrote in the filing.
Tacopina didn't specify a "legal or factual basis to withdraw" in his filing. Newsweek reached out to his firm and a representative for Trump by email for comment.
Trump critics were quick to mock him, with Occupy Democrats writing on X, formerly Twitter: "It look like the rats are fleeing the sinking ship."
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