Donald Trump's interference behind the scenes and in courtrooms is severely impacting his lawyers' ability to defend him adequately which is leading to harsher-than-expected verdicts, according to insiders who have watched him in action.
With most of Trump's civil suits behind him, combined with a financial fraud trial, that have resulted in over a half billion dollars in penalties, the former president now enters a more perilous stage as his criminal trials loom that could send him off to prison.
According to a report from the New York Times, Trump's appearances in court, his grandstanding, his decision to take the stand and his very presence is making his lawyers' lives a living hell as they are forced to bend to his demands — many of them that are detrimental to the case at hand.
In an interview with the Times, former Trump lawyer Ty Cobb had some simple advice for the lawyers handling the Manhattan hush money case slated to start later in March: "I would expect Trump to try to act up. He needs to be aggressively muzzled by the lawyers if he is to avoid offending the jury.”
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As the report notes, that has been a continuing problem when the former president is sitting in on trials at times when he doesn't have to be there.
The Times is reporting, "Typically, defendants play a role in preparing their cases, and sometimes an important one. Seldom, though, do they formulate, let alone dictate, trial strategy or make spontaneous tactical decisions from the defense table. In two of his recent losing civil cases Mr. Trump did exactly that. The major questions in the cases were essentially decided by the time Mr. Trump arrived, but the trials were held to determine what penalties he’d face."
Adding to his woes is his presence in the courtroom that has led his attorneys to "grandstand" before the court to make him happy which has led to admonishments from the bench, most notably in the battles between attorney Alina Habba and Judge Arthur Engoron.
Trump's decisions to testify — sometimes over his lawyer's advice — has also come back to haunt him with the financial fraud trial as exhibit A.
"After the trial, the judge came down hard on Mr. Trump, imposing a $355 million penalty that, after interest, has climbed to more than $450 million. In his ruling, Justice Engoron singled out Mr. Trump’s testimony — Ms. James called him as a witness — writing that when he took the stand, he 'rarely responded to the questions asked,' behavior that 'severely compromised his credibility.'"
The report adds, "Mr. Trump also undercut his lawyers in his other recent civil trial, in which the writer E. Jean Carroll asked a jury to penalize him for defaming her. The former president attended nearly every day of that trial, badgering Ms. Habba, who led his defense. Mr. Trump audibly exhorted her to 'get up' to protest something said by the judge, a witness or Ms. Carroll’s lawyers, at one point banging Ms. Habba’s arm with the back of his hand. Sometimes she took his directives; other times she shook her head lightly, apparently brushing him off."
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