Trump's attorney says to make motion to dismiss charges from grand jury

Washington, April 3

An attorney for former US President Donald Trump said that he expects to make a motion to dismiss any charges brought by a Manhattan grand jury in the hush-money payment case involving adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

"We will take the indictment. We will dissect it. The team will look at every, every potential issue that we will be able to challenge, and we will challenge," Trump's attorney Joe Tacopina told reporters during an interview on Sunday.

"And of course, I very much anticipate a motion to dismiss coming because there's no law that fits this," Xinhua news agency quoted the lawyer as saying.

Trump, who served as President from January 2017 to January 2021, was indicted last week by a Manhattan grand jury for his alleged role in organising hush money payments to Daniels before the 2016 election.

As the first former US president to be criminally charged, Trump reportedly faces more than 30 counts related to business fraud in the indictment, which was filed under seal.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office confirmed the indictment on March 31 and said it had contacted Trump's attorney to arrange his surrender.

Trump, an early frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is expected to arrive in New York City on Monday and appear in court for arraignment in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon.

After Trump turns himself in, he will be in custody of the New York Police Department and the Secret Service but he will be "processed like any other defendant", according to CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman.

Trump, 76, has denied wrongdoing and alleged that the criminal inquiry and others relating to him are all politically motivated.

The Trump 2024 campaign said on Sunday that he will deliver remarks at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday night, hours after his arraignment.