Former President Donald Trumpās Thursday courtroom tirade could backfire, legal experts warn.
Trump attorney Chris Kise asked Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trumpās New York fraud trial, to allow Trump to speak on his own behalf during closing arguments. Engoron asked Trump if he would agree to stick to the facts and relevant law but the former president launched into a lengthy diatribe, accusing the judge and New York Attorney General Letitia James of waging a āpolitical witch huntā and demanding ādamagesā because the real āfraud is on me.ā
During one portion of his rant, Trump referred to a key allegation in Jamesā lawsuit alleging that the former presidentās Trump Tower penthouse was valued at three times larger than it actually is.
āThey made a mistake. It was an honest mistake,ā Trump said.
Jamesā team allowed Trump to speak until the judge ultimately shut him down and pleaded for Kise to ācontrol your client.ā
āThere may be a reason that Jamesā staff didnāt interrupt,ā wrote NBC News legal analyst Lisa Rubin. āThe AGās office may have struck gold because some of what Trump said was so damaging to him, especially his explanation of the triplex square footage āerror.āā
I saw it pointed out elsewhere that they may have been hoping the judge would lose his cool in some manner that would warrent an appeal or retrial.
I donāt see that mattering since they were always going to appeal. Trump has never quietly accepted a consequence in his life, why would he start now.
On the other hand, you may be right: These are some mighty incompetent defense lawyers, and they may have thought this would help.
Basically any case right now is a SCOTUS case, and thatās a stacked deck.
So thatās fun.
Not this one - itās a civil case on the state of NY.
If Trump is actually convicted, I wouldnāt be surprised if the oligarchy that owns the SCOTUS decides to cut him loose completely. The SCOTUS can just decline to hear any appeals and leave him out with the laundry.
How do you still have optimism?
weāre huffing the good copium.
I remember pointing out, that Trump was a millstone around the GOP, and they lost their chance to be rid of him with the second impeachment. If they had convicted himā¦ heād go away and theyād now be running somebody else against Biden. and probably win.
The problem with the SCOTUS avoiding responsibility on the issue is that it will up to each state to decide whether he should be on the ballet. Only blue states will abide by the constitution and keep him off. It wonāt make a difference to the outcome, but it will feed the magats accusations of a rigged election.