Donald Trump’s disrespect for the law was on prominent display in a Manhattan courtroom earlier today.
Donald Trump was determined to make one more scene in his fraud trial in New York today, and he succeeded.
After a Fox News town hall last night in Iowa, Trump flew to Manhattan, where he rose to speak during closing arguments in the trial—or perhaps more accurately, to rant.
“There wasn’t one witness against us,” Trump said, as The New York Times reported. He called the case a “political witch hunt” and said he was “an innocent man.” He said his financial statements were (naturally) “perfect.” In his I’m-rubber-you’re-glue way, he insisted, “This is a fraud on me,” and demanded that Attorney General Letitia James, who has sought a more than $300 million fine, pay him. He also attacked Justice Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the case, saying, “You can’t listen for more than one minute.”
David A. Graham: The cases against Trump—a guide
As a legal strategy, this was not especially prudent. Engoron, who has already tangled with Trump’s lawyers and fined the former president $15,000, reportedly stared stonily at Trump as he spoke before eventually cutting him off. Engoron also scolded Trump’s attorney Chris Kise, telling him to “control your client.”
Justice may be blind, but it’s not deaf. Browbeating a judge who has already ruled that you committed fraud and has the power to fine you nine figures and dissolve your corporation is unlikely to produce a favorable outcome. But the indications have been so negative for Trump that he may feel he has nothing more to lose at the trial phase; his best hope is an appeal.
Engoron warned Trump, twice. The first warning came in a lengthy email exchange between the judge, his clerk, Trump’s attorneys, and lawyers for the attorney general’s office, which Engoron entered into the record yesterday. In the exchange, Kise announced that Trump intended to speak in closing. The attorney general’s staff immediately objected. Engoron wrote that he would allow Trump to speak only if
he agrees to limit his subjects to what is permissible in a counsel’s closing argument, that is, commentary on the relevant, material facts that are in evidence, and application of the relevant law to those facts. He may not seek to introduce new evidence. He may not “testify.” He may not comment on irrelevant matters. In particular, and without limitation, he may not deliver a campaign speech, and he may not impugn myself, my staff, plaintiff, plaintiff’s staff, or the New York State Court System, none of which is relevant to this case, and all of which, except commenting on my staff, can be done, and is being done, in other forums.
Kise never agreed to the conditions. When Trump showed up anyway, Engoron seemed displeased but agreed to let him speak if he stuck to the law and the facts. Neither is a strong suit for Trump. He didn’t agree to the terms, and he didn’t abide by them.
David A. Graham: The Trump Organization is fraud all the way down
The best way to understand Trump’s outburst is not as an attempt to sway the trial in any direction but as a gesture of contempt toward the whole thing. I am among the many observers who have said that Trump evinces no respect for the rule of law. The scene he caused in court today is a physical embodiment of that disrespect—disgust for the justice system made manifest.
Trump feels he should not have to play by the same rules as everyone else, and this trial has shown two different levels on which that occurs. In flouting legal rules for closing statements, and contravening the judge’s instructions, he showed that he doesn’t think he should have to obey the process that any other defendant (or plaintiff) would.
And at its core, the whole case is about Trump believing that he needn’t follow the same laws as other citizens. James alleged that Trump inflated and deflated the declared value of his properties, with an eye toward either lowering his tax bills or obtaining more favorable loan terms. The overarching goal was to keep his net worth continually growing. (Engoron ruled the allegation to be true even before the trial began, finding that Trump’s lawyers had failed to mount a defense.) Rules that govern such statements and business laws—those are for little guys, Trump seemed to believe.
David A. Graham: A thought experiment about SEAL Team 6 goes terribly, terribly wrong
Trump takes the same view of his criminal liability. Earlier this week, he sat in a different courtroom, in Washington, D.C., and listened as a different set of lawyers argued before federal judges that Trump should in effect be allowed to break any law he wants so long as 34 senators are willing to look the other way.
Given how much Trump has gotten away with, it’s no wonder he thinks the rules don’t apply to him. What’s not clear is whether he expected that the rules would somehow bend for him in the courtroom today. In any event, when the court returned after a lunch break following his speech, Trump was gone. He wasn’t going to spend another minute in the courtroom if he wasn’t the one in control of it.
‘Control Your Client’
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11.01.2024
Donald Trump’s disrespect for the law was on prominent display in a Manhattan courtroom earlier today.
Donald Trump was determined to make one more scene in his fraud trial in New York today, and he succeeded.
After a Fox News town hall last night in Iowa, Trump flew to Manhattan, where he rose to speak during closing arguments in the trial—or perhaps more accurately, to rant.
“There wasn’t one witness against us,” Trump said, as The New York Times reported. He called the case a “political witch hunt” and said he was “an innocent man.” He said his financial statements were (naturally) “perfect.” In his I’m-rubber-you’re-glue way, he insisted, “This is a fraud on me,” and demanded that Attorney General Letitia James, who has sought a more than $300 million fine, pay him. He also attacked Justice Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the case, saying, “You can’t listen for more than one minute.”
David A. Graham: The cases against Trump—a guide
As a legal strategy, this was not especially prudent. Engoron, who has already tangled with Trump’s lawyers and fined the former president $15,000, reportedly stared stonily at Trump as he spoke before eventually cutting him off. Engoron also scolded Trump’s attorney Chris Kise, telling........
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