Trump's attempt to delegitimize defamation trial by blowing it off will fail for one big reason: legal expert
Former President Donald Trump has made clear he will not be either testifying or even offering defense witnesses in the civil rape trial in the case by writer E. Jean Carroll — which some experts have said is a strategy to delegitimize the entire proceeding.
But that simply isn't going to work, argued legal analyst Lisa Rubin on MSNBC's "All In" on Wednesday.
"Let's start with the decision not to mount an offense, which, again, independent of the legal ramifications, the guy is running for president. He's accused in the court of rape," said anchor Chris Hayes. "You would think, reputation only, one would want to mount a defense."
"But if you know that your defense is particularly weak, maybe the best strategy politically is to minimize the entire trial by suggesting that the whole thing is beneath you and less important than going to Scotland to invest in yet another golf course," said Rubin. "I think that he is trying to signal to the jury. Do I think it will work? I don't. That's because, as our good friend Joyce Vance said today, in a civil case the burden of proof is preponderance of evidence."
"More likely than not," said Hayes.
"More likely than not," agreed Rubin. "It's not beyond a reasonable doubt. The defamation thing, one part of what they have to serve is clear and convincing evidence that the higher standard were likely than not in a lower standard and feeling reasonable doubt. But the point still stands. There isn't that high a bar that they have to clear here, and therefore his decision not to come is particularly, I think, a misstep."
This is compounded, Rubin said, by the compelling testimony of Natasha Stoynoff, another woman who claims to have been assaulted by the former president who gave testimony this week.
"One of the reasons that her testimony came in is because Trump was interrupted mid-attempted assault," said Rubin. "So he would stop against a wall, he kissed her without her consent, she tried to shove him off. He went back after. It was in that moment that the head butler at Mar-a-Lago walked in the room and said, 'Mrs. Trump is ready for the photo shoot to resume.' And they walked out. As they walked out, what Trump said to her is particularly chilling. He said, 'You know we're going to have an affair, don't you? You know what Marla said. Best sex I've ever had.' He was convinced in his mind that this woman, who was utterly terrified and non-consenting and that she was so scared she could not find the words, wanted to have an affair with him. His obliviousness was stark."
Watch the segment below or at this link:
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