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
Of course Trump wanted to do one of his usual āomg witch huntā speeches. He didnāt seem to realize that the trial was already over, and in the penalty phase, or that the speech would not be on TV. The email chain between Trumpās incompetent lawyer (who had previously been reported on as one of his āgoodā ones) was hilarious but also just sad, I mean, the guy canāt even be bothered to capitalize words starting sentences and the request to ādelay until Jan 29th because Melaniaās parent diedā is ludicrously transparent. Anyway, his lawyer needs to be fined or formally censured some more.
I am convinced his 'incompetent" lawyers are just a means for appeal. He will say his defense was inadequate and that his lawyers did not do their due diligence to give adequate defense or some such bullshit.
Iām not sure āIām such a fucking deadbeat that no reputable lawyer will go near meā is a winning proposition.