'Already sputtering': Legal experts say Trump's grievance grift is in huge trouble

Donald Trump's grievance "grift" to flush funds into his campaign coffers has already begun its whimpering end, legal experts said on MSNBC Wednesday night.

Lisa Rubin took to the airwaves to discuss an email exchange between Trump's attorney Chris Kise and Justice Arthur Engoron, the civil court judge overseeing his $370 million fraud trial who Wednesday blocked, in a testy exchange, the former president's bid to present closing arguments.

Engoron initially agreed to allow Trump to speak, then rescinded his offer when Trump wouldn't agree to limit his speech to the facts of the case, court records show.

Rubin argued this was further proof of Trump trying to drag the campaign trail into the New York City courtroom, but argued those efforts are proving less financially lucrative than before.

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"His fundraising has skyrocketed when he's been indicted," Rubin said. "With each court appearance in that same case, he has to manufacture a new grievance to keep the grift going and it hasn't been as successful for him as it has been the first time."

Rubin argued the more Trump's four criminal cases extend into the legal nitty-gritty, and away from the legal drama of arraignments and mug shots, the less powerful they'll prove when it comes to campaign finance.

"To my mind, he's already sputtering, we're already past the crescendo," Rubin said. "The crescendo may have been the indictments from last summer."

New York Times reporter Susanne Craig, who has spent years covering Trump, joined in to note the former president has more at stake than a political campaign when it comes to his finances.

Engoron might order Trump to pay the full $370 million New York Attorney General claims he owes in ill-gotten gains, Craig noted.

"He doesn't have that sort of cash on hand," Craig said. "There is so much at stake for him and for his children...It's their inheritance. And his ability to do business in New York. It's not just the financial penalty."

Craig then whipped out Trump's favorite words: "It's a huge deal for him."

See the discussion in the video below or at the link here.

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