Risk Update

Trump Matters Conflicts News — Georgia Secretary of State Waives, Stormy Attorney Saved

Posted Dan Bressler

“Georgia’s GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger Waives Attorney Conflicts for Pro-Trump Lawyer: Court Doc” —

  • “Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has disavowed any conflicts of interest from his former attorney, who is now representing pro-Trump attorney Kenneth Chesebro in the sprawling election-racketeering case, a new court filing indicates.”
  • “On Thursday, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis told a judge that six attorneys representing former President Donald Trump’s associates have possible conflicts of interest that could compromise their client’s rights at trial.”
  • “At least two of those attorneys — Chesebro and Anulewicz — previously represented Raffensperger, the Georgia Republican whom Trump tried to pressure to ‘find 11,780 votes’ in a phone call seeking to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral victory. Trump appeared to threaten Raffensperger with criminal liability for failing to do his bidding, making Raffensperger a key figure in the former president’s alleged racketeering scheme in Georgia.”
  • “Recruiting Raffensperger as a central witness in her case, DA Willis warned Judge Scott McAfee of the possibility that the Georgia secretary of state may be cross-examined by his former lawyers.”
  • “Grubman’s alleged conflict relates to his former representation of the Georgia secretary of state and wife Tricia Raffensperger, whom Grubman represented during the DA’s special grand jury investigation that preceded the RICO indictment.”
  • “Acknowledging that he did represent the Raffenspergers ‘in their personal capacities,’ Grubman noted that the DA has known that fact ‘for longer than a year.'”
  • “Denying any conflicts of interest, Grubman added that he has ‘signed, written ‘ from the Raffenspergers and Chesebro that he offered to submit privately to the court.”

“NYC lawyer Joe Tacopina can represent Trump in hush money case despite past dealings with Stormy Daniels, judge says” —

  • “New York City lawyer Joe Tacopina convinced the judge presiding over Donald Trump’s hush money case that his prior dealings with porn star Stormy Daniels wouldn’t pose a conflict representing the former president, according to a filing reviewed by the Daily News Monday.”‘
  • “Prosecutors flagged Tacopina’s prior communications with Daniels after he joined Trump’s team in the case centering on an illegal payment to the adult film star ahead of the 2016 election. Daniels’ lawyer, Clark Brewster, filed a complaint with a grievance committee after finding out Tacopina was on the case.”
  • “At Trump’s April arraignment, Tacopina told Judge Juan Merchan that Daniels had called his firm in 2018 when she was looking for a lawyer and spoke with one of his associates and a paralegal. At the time, he suggested he would represent her in a television interview.”
  • “‘We refused the case. I did not offer her representation. Didn’t speak to her. Didn’t meet with her,’ Tacopina said at the hearing where Trump told Merchan he understood his right to conflict-free representation.”
  • “After meeting with Tacopina and conferring with an ethics expert, Merchan, in a Sept. 1 letter, said he would accept there is no conflict.”
  • “‘court will revisit this issue with Mr. Trump when he next appears virtually on February 15, 2024,’ Merchan wrote. ‘[The] court accepts your suggestion that you do not participate in the examination of Ms. Daniels if she is called as a witness at trial.'”