Letitia James

Donald Trump's actions as his financial fraud trial continues in Manhattan appear to be serving as a test-run for his future trials with the intention of creating a rationale for a self-pardon should he be returned to the Oval Office in 2024.

According to the New Yorker's John Cassidy, there are lessons to be learned from how Trump has conducted himself inside and outside Judge Arthur Engoron's courtroom where New York Attorney General Letitia James is pursuing her $250 million lawsuit.

Beyond the fact that the "incorrigible" former president is using the media attention to get himself in front of the cameras, Cassidy is suggesting that Trump is trying to set the stage for violence should he be on the losing end on this and his other upcoming trials.

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As he writes, Trump is showing up at a trial that he doesn't need to attend and is making inflammatory statements to the press hoping to drown out the testimony that is not going his way.

Add to that, the former president is working overtime trying to rally his MAGA base.

As Cassidy puts it, "As he confronts his accusers, Trump’s legal tactics are secondary to his political strategy of discrediting the court and the prosecution in the eyes of his supporters. Only he knows his ultimate goals. But they seem to include raising doubts in advance about any guilty verdicts and planting the idea that such verdicts would be so outrageous that they would lead to unrest and violence."

"Almost certainly, he’s also trying to prepare the ground for a self-pardon in the event of a conviction on the federal charges against him if he gets reelected," he adds.

You can read more here.

As Donald Trump's lawyers spent the morning in a Manhattan courtroom arguing with Judge Arthur Engoron over a $10,000 fine imposed for verbally attacking a court official, their client was on Truth Social attempting to put a spin on what has happened in the same court over the last two days.

With former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen done testifying against his old boss about the efforts made to commit financial fraud, which is the center of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 civil lawsuit, the former president claimed on Thursday that it was a big win for him.

Taking to Truth Social, Trump first wrote, "The Attorney General case against me in New York State just lost its STAR witness, SleazeBag former attorney Michael Cohen (he was disbarred for lying, and more!), who admitted to lying in this case and clearly stated that I did nothing wrong."

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The former president followed that claim with, "The unhinged Judge, a highly political and fully biased Trump Hater, refused to dismiss this HOAX of a case, and has lost all CREDIBILITY. Likewise, he refuses to accept the decision of the Appeals Court, a first in New York. He should be ashamed of himself for having ruled against me before the trial even started, and for not dismissing this RIGGED WITCH HUNT now that the facts are known and that their star witness has been totally discredited, actually ADMITTING TO LYING."

"It is a Travesty of Justice for all to see. Businesses are fleeing “the least business friendly State in the Nation!” Racist Attorney General Letitia James should focus on record setting Murder and other Violent Crimes, something she cares, or knows, nothing about!" he added.

This past week Donald Trump discovered that the attributes that he admires in his choice of lawyers can come back to haunt him when they are finally are put in a position where their own livelihoods and freedom are on the line.

This past week Jenna Ellis became the third Trump lawyer, along with Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, to flip on the former president in the Georgia racketeering case where they were also co-denedants.

Later in the week, former Trump "fixer" Michael Cohen became the centerpiece of New York Attorney General Letitia James' pursuit of Trump in a $250 million fraud case.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

As the New York Times is reporting, the fervent doggedness that Trump so admired in all of his now-former attorneys has become a weapon being used against him -- and it's all because of the way he treated them when they worked for them.

"Mr. Trump has a history of disavowing people who were once close to him and find themselves in trouble. He had long since cut ties with Mr. Cohen — until Tuesday, they had not seen each other in five years — and more recently he distanced himself from the lawyers in the Georgia case. He had also refused to pay their mounting legal bills," the report states before adding, "Their relationships, a one-way street flowing in Mr. Trump’s direction, appeared to work for a time. But when those loyal soldiers faced their own legal jeopardy, their allegiance to the former president became strained or even shattered."

Noting that Cohen and Trump have been at odds with each other for years, his falling out with Ellis has come at an inopportune time as he faces indictments in four different jurisdictions as well as a handful of civil lawsuits.

The report goes on to add that Cohen's testimony so infuriated the former president that, along with being fined once again by Judge Arthur Engoron for testing his gag order, it was a contributing factor to Trump storming out of the Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday.

You can read more here.