Letitia James

Maddow: Trump’s unhinged courtroom 'rambling' designed to undermine 'whole legal system'

Donald Trump's critics have been slamming him for his Monday, November 6 testimony in New York State Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud case against the Trump Organization. The former president, in court, angrily described the case as a politically motivated "witch hunt." And his critics have been lambasting him for making a mockery of the United States' judicial system.

But MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, during a November 6 commentary, argued that the "chaos" he brought to Justice Arthur Engoron's courtroom was by design — as undermining U.S. institutions is part of his game plan.

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Michael Cohen: Trump mastered the art of the dodge to avoid accountability — until now

Donald Trump's art of the dodge failed him in the New York City courtroom where the future of his eponymous empire hangs in the balance because, as his former attorney Michael Cohen told Raw Story on Tuesday, it revealed his Achilles heel.

"It only took them four hours to get him to crack," said Cohen. "Because he has no stamina."

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Ivanka could get 'cornered and carved up' on the stand: biographer

Ivanka Trump is likely going to be "cornered and carved up" Wednesday when she gives testimony in the $250 million civil fraud case against her family, biographer Tim O'Brien argued on MSNBC.

The testimony comes just two days after former President Donald Trump clashed with state attorneys while on the witness stand, O'Brien noted Tuesday. And when Ivanka speaks, her testimony could cause even more damage.

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Judge Engoron won't discuss shirtless selfie published in his NY high school newsletter

It's a mysterious habeas corpus.

A shirtless photo splashed in an alumni newsletter run by Judge Arthur Engoron is being pilloried by some of former President Donald Trump's faithful, while the judge himself refused to confirm or deny the snap in question was his corpus.

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Trump wants to call 127 witnesses in New York fraud trial: report

Donald Trump's extensive list of potential witnesses in his New York civil fraud trial is more than 100 people long, MSNBC legal correspondent Lisa Rubin revealed Tuesday.

According to Rubin, Trump's lawyers filed a list of 127 potential witnesses they might ask to take the stand in the $250 million civil fraud trial.

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Trump's 'lizard brain' on full display as his 'empire of fraud' crumbles: conservative

Former President Donald Trump took the witness stand in his New York civil fraud trial on Monday, during which he snapped at state attorneys and denied wrongdoing while bragging about his net worth in a case centering on his alleged systemic false valuations of Trump Organization properties.

All of this is par for the course from the former president, wrote Trump-skeptic conservative commentator Charlie Sykes for The Bulwark on Tuesday morning.

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'Very angry' Trump gave prosecutors ammo that 'will be used against him': Maggie Haberman

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said on Tuesday that she believed former President Donald Trump slipped up while under oath this week and gave New York Attorney General Letitia James information that her team would use to hammer him in their fraud lawsuit against him.

While appearing on CNN, Haberman said that she "didn't expect Trump to take ownership of the [financial] statements the way that he did," which she said stood in contrast to his two eldest sons, both of whom shifted culpability for the statements to the company's accounting team.

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Trump’s ‘astonishing admission’ will damage any potential appeal: experts

For those who thought Trump's $250 million New York civil fraud trial was nearing its conclusion after the ex-president delivered combative sworn testimony from the witness stand Monday – especially since the judge ruled in late September Trump was liable for fraud, and likely will have to dissolve his New York businesses – brace yourselves.

Legal experts are offering a preview of what comes next, and there will probably be a lot more, including more Trump on the witness stand.

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Trump got 'rude awakening' after judge pierced his 'force field'

Donald Trump found his status as a former president was no match for a judge's authority inside his own courtroom.

The 2024 Republican presidential frontrunner testified Monday in a New York City courtroom in the $250 million fraud trial against his family owned business, and New York Supreme Court justice Arthur Engoron repeatedly reprimanded Trump for veering off topic and delivering campaign-style rants instead of answering prosecutors' questions – which CNN columnist Stephen Collinson said must have come as a shock.

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Trump is barreling towards 'gross paranoid psychosis' as the walls close in: psychiatrist

Following Donald Trump's outrageous behavior on the stand on Monday where he testified in the $250 million financial fraud lawsuit brought against him and his Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a noted psychiatrist warned there are warning signs about his mental decline.

In an interview with Salon's Chauncey DeVega, Dr. Lance Dodes, former clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, suggested the pressures of Donald Trump's multitude of legal woes, combined with the possibility his financial fortune could be wiped out, are aggravating his existing mental problems which could lead him to incite a new wave of violence that the country witnessed on Jan. 6.

Asked by DeVega about Trump's "state of mind and resulting behavior these last few weeks," Dodes began by observing, "Donald Trump’s severe narcissistic, antisocial (sociopathic) character disorder means he cannot tolerate or even acknowledge losses or defeats."

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

Adding that Trump is losing his "grasp of reality," the psychiatrist asserted the former president is unable to deal with anyone who "dares to hold him accountable for his lies."

Referring to suggestions that Trump is "decompensating," Dodes explained that appraisal is correct to a degree.

"It would be more precise to say that the decompensation consists of exposing an inability to see reality and violent self-interest that has always been who he is," he explained. "As many have predicted, as pressure on him continues to rise, his claims of greatness, his inability to accept legal constraints or punishments, and his destructive impulses toward all who have limited him, will increase."

That, in turn, he predicted will lead to a further deterioration of Trump's mental state.

"Ultimately, he may decompensate to the point of gross paranoid psychosis with even more obvious incitement to riots and civil war rather than accept the reality that he has been finally held accountable," he warned.

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'Just plain fraud': Former prosecutor says Trump appeals look DOA

Former President Donald Trump and his attorneys are hoping to overturn Judge Arthur Engoron's rulings against the Trump Organization on appeal, but former federal prosecutor Kristy Greenberg said that those hopes appear to be dead on arrival.

Appearing on CNN, Greenberg broke down the Trump team's legal strategy for mounting an appeal by arguing that the valuations listed in financial statements provided to banks were not really to be taken at face value, while also arguing those statements were still good-faith estimates of the former president's properties.

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Trump's courtroom antics warrant a 'mental competency' screening: attorney

Reflecting on Donald Trump's appearance in a Manhattan courtroom where he was sworn in and immediately launched furious attacks on Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, trial attorney Shan Wu claims it would have been understandable for a motion to be made to have the former president's competency tested.

In a column for the Daily Beast, Wu complimented the state's trial strategy to let the former president rant and rave, which led to multiple admonishments from Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the $250 million financial fraud trial.

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Michael Cohen reveals document he found showing Trump's recycled attacks

Former Donald Trump lawyer Michael Cohen found a document among his papers at home from his ex-client, showing how he recycles rhetoric and attacks, thinking that they'll be successful.

Holding up a stack of papers, Cohen showed a note written in what seemed like Trump's handwriting, but Raw Story has not independently verified the note.

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