Donald Trump has had one consistent tactic for handling the serious criminal and civil litigation he faces, and that technique has met its match, according to a former trial attorney. MSNBC host and legal analyst Katie Phang appeared on the network on Saturday, and was asked about Trump's legal strategy. The former president has pushed for the delay or dismissal of his upcoming trial in the criminal hush money case, but has so far been mostly unsuccessful in those efforts. Phang suggested the reason why that's the case. ALSO READ: A criminologist explains why keeping Trump from the
White House is all that matters According to the analyst, it's because Trump has met his match, and it's the judge in that case. "Delay can only get you so far in the judicial system," Phang said, "before it hits a wall." She continued: "That wall has a name, that wall is named Judge Juan Merchan. So, Judge Merchan has seen many attempts by
Donald Trump to try to delay or even throw the case in its entirety, the latest being this motion to recuse Judge Merchan. The problem for Donald Trump is, there are standards, legal standards that have to be met to recuse a judge. In this particular instance, I along with several other analysts believe he will not reach that legal standard." Phang added that it is "interesting" that Trump is telling Juan Merchan that he is "doing something wrong." "But, guess who gets to decide it? Juan Merchan," she added. "In this instance, the allegations that Judge Merchan's daughter has a
Job or equity in a company that has Democrat clients, the hypocrisy is pretty rank. We see a lot of
Republicans that make money off of those types of relationships, as well. But, again, if there is impropriety or the appearance of impropriety, that is a standard but that doesn't exist here, there is no legal standard being met." Watch the video below or click the link. Saturday afternoon, just hours before he is set to host a gala fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago resort , Donald Trump lashed out at three
New York judges in a three-part furious rant about how he has been treated by the legal system. Along the way, he he also attacked New York writer E. Jean Carroll who successfully sued him for defamation and was awarded $91 million in damages over two trials. Pushing the boundaries of a recent gag order put in place by Judge Juan Merchan , the former president first took to his Truth Social platform to rant , "Crooked Judge Juan Merchan is not allowing me to talk, is taking away my First Amendment Rights, he’s got me GAGGED, because he doesn’t want the FACTS behind the Gag to come out. How many Corrupt, Biased, Crooked Joe Biden-'Protection Agency' New York Judges do I have to endure before somebody steps in?" ALSO READ: A neuroscientist reveals how Trump and Biden's cognitive impairments are different He then lashed out at Judge Lewis Kaplan who oversaw the E. Jean Carroll trials and included her in his diatribe without using her name. "I had New York Federal Judge, Lewis Kaplan, with a woman who I never knew, and had nothing to do with, until she sued me for 'defamation.' She did not know what day, month, or year the supposed 'incident' took place - She knew nothing. Kaplan, a Hillary friend, wouldn’t even let my lawyers put on a proper case, made it two cases instead of one, took away my
American Right to defend myself, and was a Crazed Bully as his wife and
Friends sat in the Courthouse, every day in their little roped off section, and prodded him on in awe. This mysterious lady, who said rape is sexy, got $91 Million Dollars," he wrote. In a second post he continued, "Then, of course, we have Arthur Engoron, a total lunatic, whack job , who ruled that I should pay an almost $500 Million Dollar “fine” for having done nothing wrong (No Victims, No Damages, Ironclad Disclaimer, ONLY SUCCESS!), in fact, he was the one who committed fraud when he purposely, at the direction of Racist, Corrupt A.G. Letitia James, undervalued Mar-a-Lago at $18 Million Dollars." Not content with that, he added a third post where he wrote , "Now, we have Merchan, who is not allowing me to talk, thereby violating the Law and the Constitution, all at once. It is so bad what he is trying to get away with - How was he even chosen for this case??? I heard he fought like hell to get it, and all of the rest of them also! If this Partisan
Hack wants to put me in the 'clink' for speaking the open and obvious TRUTH, I will gladly become a Modern Day Nelson Mandela - It will be my GREAT HONOR. We have to Save our Country from these Political Operatives masquerading as Prosecutors and Judges, and I am willing to sacrifice my Freedom for that worthy cause. We are a Failing Nation, but on November 5th, we will become a Great Nation again. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" CONTINUE READING Show less During an appearance on MSNBC's "The Katie Phang Show," MSNBC host Ali Velshi claimed that the wheeling and dealing of the stock issued by Trump Media & Technology Group , which trades under the ticker DJT, is likely drawing more than the normal amount of scrutiny by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Velshi, who started out at MSNBC as a business reporter, claimed he has been closely watching the price plummet and the lawsuits tied to the company play out in the press and there should be cause for concern that not everything looks above board. After first taking a shot at the stock centered on the lackluster performance of Truth Social, which caused the value to go into freefall, he claimed he didn't, for the moment, see anything Donald Trump has done that would have him in trouble with the SEC, but there should be concerns for investors. ALSO READ: No, Donald Trump, fraud is not protected by the First Amendment "We know the
FBI is involved because of these two guys who were insider trading," he told host Phang. "We are not sure what the connection is, andwe are not sure whether Donald Trump or anybody in the company knew about it." "That said, the SEC. does have rules and nothing Donald Trump does generally sounds like a guy who is equipped to follow those kinds of rules," he continued. "So, I would imagine the SEC is looking at it very closely. I have been studying it closely, there is nothing I have seen that is clearly an SEC violation, but it is awfully messy." "If you are going to run a public company, there are actual rules and if you violate them, the SEC will come after you," he elaborated. "I don't know what it is; everything that I talked about right now seems to be legal, including [TikTok investor] Jeff Yass involving himself in this company, possibly for the benefit of his TikTok stocks. But I would assure you there are some people at the SEC who are watching it closely." Watch below or at the link . MSNBC 04 06 2024 12 27 18 youtu.be CONTINUE READING Show less By his words and by his actions, Donald Trump is making it difficult for Judge Aileen Cannon to put her thumb on the scale in his favor as she issues rulings that appear to be designed to derail his obstruction of government trial. Reacting to Cannon's ruling to put off the question about the application of the Presidential Records Act (PRA) to the case brought by special counsel Jack Smith, until the trial begins, the New Republic's Greg Sargent suggested a Trump Truth Social posting only stirred up more worries that he fully expects her to protect him since he appointed her to her lifetime appointment. As the analyst explained, Cannon's latest ruling , "actually made it easier for herself to kill the case later, or to steer a jury toward an acquittal," however Trump couldn't leave well enough alone n by pointing out, "He [Trump] doesn’t bother hiding his expectation that Cannon—who was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2020—will put a heavy thumb on the scale in his favor. That complicates Cannon’s efforts to maintain that objective legal aura she’s striving for." ALSO READ: A criminologist explains why Judge Cannon must step away from Trump trial immediately At issue is Trump's assertion that Smith must be "sanctioned or censured for the way he is attacking a highly respected Judge, Aileen Cannon," for putting her on the spot over her controversial and much-derided jury instruction request that led Smith to hint at going to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals for relief. Nothing that Trump also called Cannon "Cannon “highly respected,” Sargeant claimed it putting her moves under more scrutiny. "Having all this out in the open is the last thing Cannon wants, because by all indications, she’s striving to appear neutral in the case—while sneakily leaving the door open to help Trump later," he wrote. "To wit: Cannon didn’t rule on Trump’s claim that he was authorized under the PRA to take the documents. Had she done so in his favor, as many legal experts noted , it would have been subject to appeal. But by deferring that question, Cannon has given herself two options later: Instruct the jury at trial to take that argument seriously into account, making acquittal more likely, or dismiss the case herself on those grounds." "To the degree that Trump makes it explicit that he fully expects Cannon to scuttle the case, it complicates executing this game with credibility," he added before predicting, "Cannon does not seem to relish being perceived as a servant of this twisted ethos. Trump doesn’t seem to care; he’s openly telling the world exactly what he expects her to do for him. We can only hope Trump has left her no option but to prove him wrong." You can read more here . CONTINUE READING Show less