Donald Trump is severely damaging the credibility of his legal team by having them file motions that not only have no chance of succeeding but that test the patience of the judges hearing them, according to two former DOJ officials.
Writing for the Bulwark, former federal prosecutor Dennis Aftergut and former associate deputy attorney general Frederick Baron explained that Trump's insistence that his lawyers ask Judge Tanya Chutkan to move his federal election interference trial to 2026 would have a long-term impact on how she conducts his case.
And not in a way that favors the former president.
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According to the two legal experts, the one thing that lawyers carry into the courtroom is their credibility, and making unreasonable or frivolous motions can cause irreparable harm when it comes to future rulings.
"Trump’s proposal on the all-important trial date sends an unintended message: that Trump is pressing his lawyers to take legal positions so extreme that they will be entirely disregarded," they wrote before adding, "Credibility with judges is the coin of the realm for trial lawyers. Squander it early and it’s hard to retrieve."
"Trump’s past pattern is that his lawyers lose credibility by kowtowing to his absurd, uninformed demands. Then he tosses them like bad pennies. Sooner or later, it’s tough attracting the gold standard in the legal profession," they continued before stating Chutkan will likely not take the extension request seriously.
"An experienced judge like Chutkan has seen many teams of lawyers prepare competently for trial in more legally and factually complex cases involving databases larger than in Trump’s case — and do it in far less time than Trump has requested," they explained.
"Trump’s laughable 2026 trial date proposal will lose Judge Chutkan’s trust for his lawyers faster than a bullet fired at someone standing in the middle of Fifth Avenue."
They then added, "Though criminal trials often take priority over civil trials, Judge Chutkan is likely to allow time for those other short trials to finish, and then provide a brief buffer period for Trump to complete preparation for the conspiracy and obstruction trial in her court. Look for a spring 2024 trial date to be set."
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