In a Sunday, November 12 column by Los Angeles Times Washington columnist Doyle McManus, he argues ex-President Donald Trump's strategy to portray himself as a martyr amid his four indictments may have "cemented his hold on the Republican presidential nomination," but "as a legal strategy, it's been a bust."
The MAGA hopeful's three courtroom tactics — to denounce, disrupt, delay – have not helped any of his cases, McManus emphasizes.
First, the columnist writes, "Trump has denounced prosecutors as thugs, judges as unfair and his indictments as illegitimate, which hasn’t solved any of his problems in court."
Second, the former president has been "intent on disrupting the state's civil suit against him on allegations of financial fraud," recently saying to Judge Arthur Engoron, "This is a very unfair trial. We have a very hostile judge."
And finally, "In two federal criminal cases, the former president's main goal has been to delay," McManus writes, noting, "If Trump regains the presidency, he could escape accountability by ordering the Justice Department to halt its prosecutions. So, timing matters — a lot."
However, his attorneys have failed "in postponing either federal case," the columnist adds.
According to McManus, former federal prosecutor Paul Rosenzweig insists, "Even if he loses every legal battle, Trump's scorched-earth tactics could still have a corrosive effect."
The ex-prosecutor added, "He's slowly eroding faith in the rule of law, at a terrible cost that will reap the whirlwind."
McManus notes, "No court has decided whether former presidents are immune from prosecution, because no other former president has been indicted. If the issue reaches the Supreme Court, that would almost surely delay a trial for months."
Rosenzweig said, "I'd guess they could decide it by July 1. But even if they expedite, the Supreme Court is not expeditious.
McManus' full column is here.
