A former lawyer on Donald Trump's legal team warned that there is "absolutely" a possibility that he will be convicted in one of his criminal cases.
Until recently, Joe Tacopina represented Trump in New York in his "hush money" case and the E. Jean Carroll saga. The lawyer left Trump's legal team for "personal reasons," he told Al Sharpton on MSNBC.
Tacopina said he believes there is politics involved in Trump's cases but prosecutors like Jack Smith should not be underestimated.
"Look, do I think there’s a political bent to some of this, some of the the way this was gone about? Yes, I do," Tacopina said. "Do I think these cases are invalid cases? Look, a grand jury voted to indict."
Trump is facing 91 criminal counts in four separate cases, all brought by Democrat prosecutors.
With the exception of the classified document case in Miami, all of the trials are deep in hostile territory, so the odds of Trump receiving an impartial jury aren't good.
“So that’s going to be something to really have to grapple with there,” Tacopina said. “And you can’t say, ‘There’s no way he’ll get convicted.'”
Jack Smith's January 6th case is the most dramatic and potentially damaging of the four, as it ties Trump to an attack on "democracy."
While Smith denies any political motives, a conviction in the case may very well be the key to securing Biden's shaky hold on the White House.
Trump has been running neck-and-neck with Biden in the polls, but a criminal conviction could finally turn public opinion against Trump.
The news isn't without bright spots for Trump. The prosecutor driving his Georgia case, Fani Willis, has been wrapped up in a scandal that could derail the trial.
And Smith is facing some serious obstacles. The biggest, right now, is Trump's appeal of district court judge Tanya Chutkan's ruling on presidential immunity.
An appeals court in D.C. is weighing the question and, in the likely event Trump is denied, he could appeal to the Supreme Court, delaying the trial further.
The Supreme Court has already agreed to weigh a separate case involving a January 6th defendant that could jeopardize some of the charges against Trump.
