A man of his word: a new reality for the ex-president and the investigation of his Mar-a-Lago crime in New York
“A man of his word”: Trump’s is already fanning the flames on social media with his views on Merchan and his indictment. But attorneys who have appeared before him told CNN that the judge doesn’t stand for disruptions or delays.
It is possible that this new reality, which will come with hefty financial commitments in legal fees and lock in Trump’s calendar, can be expanded at a time when he is already facing the intense demands of another White House bid.
Regardless of the merits of this case against Trump in New York — and lots of legal experts have questioned the strength of Bragg’s case — Trump still faces at least three other criminal probes with potentially more serious consequences.
Jack Smith, theJustice Department’s special counsel, is investigating Trump’s conduct in handling classified documents retrieved from Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s former lawyer, Ty Cobb, told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the developments represent a serious turn in the case for the ex-president. We haven’t seen alleged results yet, we have known the investigatory steps were under way. I think they are very consequential.
Trump denies any wrongdoing in all of these investigations. He has described his behavior in Georgia as “perfect.” He lambasted the sealed indictment in New York for being an example of politicized justice, as he faces more than 30 counts connected to business fraud.
Trump made a huge show of himself on his return to New York. The snaking motorcade of black Secret Service SUVs to and from his private Boeing 757 in its sparkling new livery carried overtones of a presidential movement in a power play meant to send a message of strength.
He will go back to his Mar-a-Lago resort and make a statement about his innocence after Tuesday’s court appearance, but also use it to distract from his criminal case in New York.
One criminal prosecution is enough. Trump hasn’t been charged in any of the other cases, but a multi-front defense in multiple cases would represent an extraordinary storm. And it would further disrupt the ex-president’s capacity to dictate his political schedule and control his destiny. When he was under scrutiny in the Russia investigation by special counsel Robert Mueller, or during his two impeachments, Trump exploited his huge popularity with Republican voters to discredit accusations against him. He pressured most GOP senators, who knew they would pay with their careers if they voted to convict him in an impeachment trial.
The situation is somewhat similar to the 2020 election, when the will of voters prevailed because Trump’s attempts to have votes thrown out and results changed foundered in multiple courts because of the fact-based standards of evidence and the law.
Trump’s lawyers attempted to wrest some control of the court proceedings on Monday, arguing against a request by news organizations, including CNN, to allow television cameras into Tuesday’s arraignment. The media outlets argued that the case was of such public interest that it should be broadcast. But Trump’s lawyers told the judge that “it will create a circus-like atmosphere at the arraignment, raise unique security concerns, and is inconsistent with President Trump’s presumption of innocence.”
But the irony of the ex-president complaining about being the subject of a media circus was rich indeed. Without his salesman’s talent, he wouldn’t have been president. In New York, Trump gave fodder for the tabloids with his famous celebrity feuds, colorful personal life and business hits and failures. His entire 2016 campaign and his single-term presidency were pageants of outrage, scandal and lawlessness stoked by his often unchained Twitter posts.
Trump walked into the New York courthouse. The usually bombastic former president let his lawyers do the talking except for saying those two words — “not guilty.”
He has sentenced Trump’s close confident Allen Weisselberg to prison, presided over the Trump Organization tax fraud trial and overseen former adviser Steve Bannon’s criminal fraud case.
The Manhattan Mental Health Court, which he often presides over, is credited by his peers with helping to create the Manhattan Mental Health Court, as well as having earned a reputation for giving defendants second chances.
If he hadn’t already told Weisselberg that he was going to give him a five-month sentence, Merchan would have handed him a much harsher punishment.
Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore said during an interview Friday on CNN that Merchan was “not easy” on him when he tried a case before him, but echoed that the judge likely will be fair.
His New York Times profile said that he grew up in Jackson Heights, Queens, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 6. He was the first in his family to go to college. He received his law degree from Hofstra University.
In 1994 he was the assistant district attorney in the trial division in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. He worked in the state attorney general’s office in Long Island for several years. In 2006, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, then a Republican, appointed Merchan to Family Court in the Bronx, and Democratic Gov. David Paterson appointed him to the New York State Court of Claims in 2009 — the same year he began serving as an acting New York Supreme Court Judge.
A New Lawyer for Donald Trump: Defending the U.S. from the Criminal Indictment of New York and Why he’s Running Away
Former President Donald Trump condemned the criminal charges he faced in New York Tuesday night, saying to a crowd of supporters that “the only crime that I have committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.”
The new lawyer for Donald Trump was in court Tuesday and he did the talking. He told Merchan that Trump was frustrated, upset, and believed that there was an injustice occurring in this courtroom.
“Defense counsel, speak to your client and anybody else you need to, and remind them to please refrain, please refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest,” Merchan said. Please refrain from making comments that could cause violence, civil unrest, or endanger the safety of any individuals, as these can have the potential to lead to violence.
The former president reverted back to his old tricks after Trump left New York and returned to Florida.
He called two other prosecutors who are Black, and who have investigated him, racist. Trump’s called Bragg that, too, and an “animal.” Bragg is also black.
Donald Trump says it’s hard to see how his supporters would approve of what he might have done, but that he may be able to continue to convince them that he did nothing wrong.
It’s possible that one could happen in the middle of the Republican primary. And right now Trump is the clear front-runner for the GOP nomination once again. But that would mean a strong possibility of Republicans backing someone with pending criminal charges to advance to a general election.
Republicans seem perfectly okay with that at this point. In that same NPR poll, 8 in 10 Republicans have a favorable opinion of Trump, and three-quarters think he should be president again.
Republican pollster Sarah Longwell, who is no Trump fan, found during one of her focus groups last week that, for the first time, not a single person said they would vote for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump.
Ironically, Trump’s numbers have improved with the GOP since Trump rang the alarm of a potential arrest. He’s boxed out GOP presidential opponents, who are scared of offending the base, especially since even more anti-Trump Republicans, like Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, are criticizing the New York case. Trump’s campaign says that he has raised over $7 million since the indictment.
“There is a F-35 missile-armed weapon being piloted by Jack Smith with [Attorney General] Merrick Garland as his wingman in D.C. that’s going to get off the ground soon in the Mar-a-Lago obstruction case that will make this look like a water pistol,” former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb told CNN Tuesday of the New York case — and the potential danger ahead for Trump.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/04/05/1168113684/donald-trump-lashes-out-resorting-to-old-tactics-after-arraignment-hearing
Letitia James: She’s Just So! The New York Attorney General James is Running for the President of the United States, not the Senatorial candidate Melania Trump
And that’s what he needs to do because over the last three election cycles, his brand has proven toxic in competitive states and districts — the precise places Republicans need to win to take back the White House.
Trump said, of the case being led by Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis, that she is “doing everything in her power to indict me over an absolutely perfect phone call, even more perfect than the one I made with the president of Ukraine.”
The Trump Organization was condemned by Trump, who said that New York Attorney General James had been campaigning for him. I’ll get him. This was her campaign. Never ran for office. I will get him. Her name is Letitia James,” he said.
Toward the end of his remarks, Trump returned to criticizing Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and the charges leveled against him Tuesday in New York.