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
You forget that all this is playing for his base who he keeps telling that heās innocent and will ultimately be found innocentā¦ They still think thereās a chance he can win this and completely ignore the fact that the ruling has been made already against him
Youāre right! And I do forget that to my chagrin.
Playing to his base almost worked on 01/06. Heās all in betting this election. No choice but to push in the whole pot and double down, no draw, win or lose.