Former President Donald Trump's lawyer John Lauro was in damage control mode, frantically assuring Judge Tanya Chutkan that he would abide by any order she issued throughout the former president's trial in the 2020 election coup case, said MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin on Friday evening.
Chutkan presided over a hearing earlier that morning over protective orders, asking tough questions of both the prosecutors and defense — and it comes after Trump took to social media to proclaim he would violate any such protective order.
"It was fascinating, and a stunning debut, as you noted, for Tanya Chutkan, who was an unknown player to most of us following this drama," Rubin told anchor Chris Hayes. "She was alternately funny at one point, Trump's lawyer John Lauro said to her, 'Your Honor, you hit the nail on the head,' and she said, I think, 'That's the last time you're gonna say that.' She was firm into things and particularly, she was firm that the First Amendment rights Donald Trump demands have to yield to the field administration of justice, and said, political calculations are not entering her decision-making in either direction."
In particular, Rubin said, she was impressed "by how clever Judge Chutkan was, because we all know that Donald Trump is like the honey badger of his own political life. He doesn't give a flying leap about some of the things that might incentivize other people's behavior, like sanctions or even a contempt ruling. And at the end, when she essentially said, counsel and your client, you are responsible for de-escalating your rhetoric, because if you continue along this path I'll have no choice but to try this case sooner. That is both responsible in the administration of justice, but she might have also have found the one stick that could motivate a horse named Trump. Because the one thing that you know he doesn't want is this trial to happen on an expeditious timeline."
"You know, I had that exact same thought when I saw that, was what's the one thing they care about?" said Hayes. "And again, it was another moment that underlies, we all know the score here. The judge does, Jack Smith's office does, everyone thought, they don't want this trial to happen before the election. He's trying to get elected so he can get rid of this case."
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"Correct," said Rubin. "And you know, his lawyers know that as well, because, notwithstanding the fact that on social media this week Trump said repeatedly, I'm not going to obey, and not gonna comply, John Lauro was full of assurances to Judge Chutkan that his client would not only comply with the conditions of his release, but that he would comply with any protective order, as well. So now you've got a Trump lawyer on the record making representations face to face with the judge, saying, my client is going to obey and if he doesn't, there will be some consequences, not only for Donald Trump but potentially for his lawyers as well."
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