Former President Donald Trump’s Thursday courtroom tirade could backfire, legal experts warn.

Trump attorney Chris Kise asked Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trump’s 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 “political witch hunt” and demanding “damages” because the real “fraud is on me.”

During one portion of his rant, Trump referred to a key allegation in James’ lawsuit alleging that the former president’s Trump Tower penthouse was valued at three times larger than it actually is.

“They made a mistake. It was an honest mistake,” Trump said.

James’ team allowed Trump to speak until the judge ultimately shut him down and pleaded for Kise to “control your client.”

“There may be a reason that James’ staff didn’t interrupt,” wrote NBC News legal analyst Lisa Rubin. “The AG’s office may have struck gold because some of what Trump said was so damaging to him, especially his explanation of the triplex square footage ‘error.’

  • @the_q
    link
    45
    edit-2
    10 months ago

    deleted by creator

    • GladiusB
      link
      9
      edit-2
      11 months ago

      It’s just a witch hunt. They have ulterior motives. They are deep state setting me up. They can’t see the real truth. Only I do.

      Am I missing anything else?

      • Subverb
        link
        611 months ago

        Just FYI, it’s “ulterior”. It’s one of the weird ones.

      • @[email protected]
        link
        fedilink
        English
        211 months ago

        If you elect me ill ‘take care’ of them. Wink wink (he says the wink wink part out loud now)

    • @Fleamo
      link
      611 months ago

      The nihilism of legal consequences has so far come from the lack of charging him with anything, mostly when he was president and the policy was not to charge him with anything. He hasn’t actually gotten away with anything that has gone to court.

      He lost the E Jean Carroll suit and the Trump Corp fraud case. The other stuff is still ongoing.

      • @the_q
        link
        -1
        edit-2
        10 months ago

        deleted by creator

        • @lennybird
          link
          English
          211 months ago

          91 criminal charges

          4 independent grand jury indictments.

          Yeah. I’ll take that bet.