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
Heās never really had a good track record in cases that actually went to court. You can bully vendors, mistresses and customers with endless court cases, but the government has unlimited lawyers to throw at you, so that strategy doesnāt work any more.
Watch the video of his election night win at Trump Tower. Everyone is partying, he puts his head in his hands. I think he knew, at least on some level, that the game got far too serious for him. As you said, āunlimited lawyersā.
And speaking of, I eat insurrectionist tears for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Nothing is stopping the FBI and DOJ. Every. Single. Day. Another one goes down. Iām here for it.