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Crime

Trump won’t refuse to surrender if indicted in NYC,

lawyer says: ‘There won’t be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago’
By Molly Crane-Newman
New York Daily News • Mar 17, 2023 at 3:02 pm

Former President Donald Trump will not refuse to surrender if the Manhattan
district attorney criminally indicts him, his lawyer told the Daily News Friday.

“There won’t be a standoff at Mar-a-Lago with Secret Service and the Manhattan
DA’s office,” Joe Tacopina said.

DA Alvin Bragg is believed to be on the cusp of nearing a charging decision in his

office’s long-running investigation into Trump and his business dealings.

If Trump is charged, he must surrender to New York authorities and appear in court
to enter a plea to the charges. A judge could theoretically agree to conduct the
hearing remotely, but no criminal defendants are being arraigned virtually at
present, according to Lucian Chalfen from the Office of Court Administration.

Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally on May 28, 2022 in Casper, Wyoming. (Chet Strange/Getty Images)

DA staffers met with members of the NYPD’s intelligence bureau on Thursday for a
preliminary meeting to address security concerns ahead of the possible indictment,
according to a source with direct knowledge of the meeting who asked to remain LATEST
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The Manhattan Criminal Court building at 100 Centre St. in Manhattan, New York. (Susan Watts/New York Daily News)

Grand jury proceedings are confidential, and it is not known whether the group
impaneled in January will vote to indict Trump. If it does, the criminal case will
mark the first against a former president in American history.

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Sources connected to the investigation, running on about four years, say Bragg is

considering charging Trump with crimes related to how he and his business
classified reimbursement checks to his former fixer Michael Cohen for the hush
money payment to Daniels and concealed the payment to hide a second crime.

On Wednesday, Cohen testified before a grand jury hearing evidence in the probe.
He said every one of the engaged jurors asked him a question and added that he was
“certain” he’d provided the most comprehensive account of the 2016 hush money
deal with Daniels, for which he served federal prison time.

“I’m relieved that my role is now, for the time being, over. I have complied with
every request that was asked of me by the district attorney’s office,” Cohen said.

Armed Secret Service agents stand outside an entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, late
Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump said in a lengthy statement that the FBI was conducting a search of his
Mar-a-Lago estate and asserted that agents had broken open a safe. (Terry Renna / AP)

Trump has denied the sexual encounter with Daniels and has recently described
himself as an extortion victim in relation to the hush payment, which Daniels denies.

Earlier this week, Tacopina said that Trump would not take the DA’s office up on an
invitation to testify, a courtesy call that further fueled speculation that the
investigation is wrapping up.

On Friday, Tacopina said Trump, who’s running for the White House for a third
time, would find a way to use the potential criminal charges to his advantage.

“Most people would collapse under the weight of this,” Tacopina told The News. “He
seems to turn everything into a positive and everything into a boost for his
campaign, so I’m sure this will just join that long list of things that people think no
one could overcome, but he will.”

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