Legal expert shreds all of Trump's latest grievances with civil fraud trial

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at the judge, prosecutor, and court clerk in his New York civil fraud trial on Tuesday, taking advantage of the current suspension of the gag order that prohibits him from doing some of those things.

However, most of his grievances were false, noted legal expert and MSNBC commentator Tristan Snell on X that evening.

First of all, Snell noted, Trump is not correct that there was "no jury allowed" — his attorney simply "failed to ask for one." He's also incorrect that the fraud statute Attorney General Letitia James is using has "never been used before" — in fact, "the same statute has been used routinely and constantly since 1956 and was also used by the NY AG to beat Trump in the Trump University and Trump Foundation cases."

Snell also noted that Trump made a series of character claims without proof, including that the trial was "rigged," that James is "racist and corrupt," and that Judge Arthur Engoron is "Trump-hating."

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Contrary to that last assertion in particular, "Judge Engoron has been enormously patient and indulgent as Trump failed to produce the documents that were subpoenaed by the NY AG, refused to comply with subpoenas to appear for depositions, attacked the judge and his law clerk, and then kept attacking them even after the court issued an order," wrote Snell.

James alleges in the suit that Trump and his two adult sons have repeatedly and systematically misrepresented the value, and sometimes even square footage, of their properties. She is seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and the dissolution of the Trump Organization.

Engoron already ruled against Trump on most of the merits in summary judgment, and the remaining trial is primarily about assessing damages.