'He knows he's going to lose': Experts explain Trump's 'fearful' moves in hush money case

Days before the trial starts and Donald Trump sits front and center to defend against charges of falsifying business records to hide a hush money scheme, experts say his last-ditch stalling game in the form of filings are a sign that "he knows he's going to lose."

The batting average for former President Donald Trump to push back the April 15 tax day start date of his first criminal case, and historically the first against a former president who is running for a second term, is 0 for three.

All of it gives off a man running scared, the experts suggest.

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"I would say he does look increasingly desperate, but he knows he's going to lose," Laurie Levenson, a Loyola Law School professor, told Salon.

Barring some unforeseen event, defendant Trump will defend against the 34-count criminal case where in 2016 just weeks before the election, he's alleged to have paid off porn star Stormy Daniels through his former fixer and attorney Michael Cohen to prevent an alleged affair with her from going public, as well as pumped funds into The National Enquirer to bury another alleged romance with former Playboy Playmate Karen McDougal.

Three attempts have been levied by Trump's team to force the emergency brake to be pulled and so far the criminal justice train keeps chugging.

The latest attempt was a civil action brought to replace New York Judge Juan Merchan filed Wednesday.

It too failed.

Hamline University political science and legal studies professor David Schultz told Salon that Trump's filings at the eleventh hour suggest the presumptive Republican nominee is "fearful" since a conviction could "have an impact on his 2024 presidential campaign."

The other two duds to ice the case involving Trump's legal team was a change of venue from Manhattan to the city's other borough (and more pro-MAGA) Staten Island.

It was denied.

Trump also tried an Article 78 lawsuit action to delay trial while he fought against Merchan's more fortified gag order.

The bag of tricks at this point is getting featherweight light, according to experts.

Catherine Ross, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, told Salon: "It’s hard to imagine what other far-fetched tactics they might try but if they can find any claim that might be stretched to apply here we can be sure they will use it."