Trump’s Jan. 6 defense strategy is ‘like a PhD in stupid’ — but he’s ‘playing for delay’: legal expert

Former president Donald Trump is attempting to run out the clock on the House Select Committee investigation the Captiol insurrection, according to legal experts and others.

The Huffington Post reported Wednesday night that while Trump "bankrupted casinos and become the biggest presidential loser since Herbert Hoover," the former president does appear to have one area of expertise: using the courts to stall.

Trump's longtime former attorney and "fixer," Michael Cohen, told the HuffPo, "This is Trump 101, in terms of delaying and grinding out legal actions that affect him."

Trump filed suit against the House Select Committee this week, alleging that the White House documents the panel is seeking are protected by executive privilege.

Norm Eisen, who served as the White House's top ethics lawyer under former president Barack Obama, said Trump is "playing for delay" in hopes the committee's investigation will be shut down in the likely event that Republicans recapture the House in 2022.

But Eisen said neither Trump nor Steve Bannon, his former chief strategist who is defying the committee's subpoena, have sound legal arguments.

"Inciting an insurrection is not an executive function, so executive privilege does not apply," Eisen said. "Bannon's position is like a bachelor's degree in stupid, while the Trump position is like a Ph.D. in stupid."

The article notes that in New York City, Trump was "famous for using lawsuits to wear down his business associates into accepting disadvantageous settlements, often counting on them to weigh less-than-agreed-to payments against the time and expenses involved in litigation."

David Axelrod, a strategist for Obama's presidential campaigns, said: "No one plays the stall game better than Donald Trump. His business strategy was to tie up people seeking payment in court until he wore them down. He's taken the same tactic with congressional probes. Delay, delay, delay."

Eisen added that Trump's lawsuit likely puts "the burden of protecting American democracy" on federal courts.

"Trump and his followers are continuing to broadcast the 'big lie' that risks additional violence and unrest. So, it's an emergency situation and the courts should treat it as such," he said.

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