Former President Donald Trumpā€™s Thursday courtroom tirade could backfire, legal experts warn.

Trump attorney Chris Kise asked Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trumpā€™s New York fraud trial, to allow Trump to speak on his own behalf during closing arguments. Engoron asked Trump if he would agree to stick to the facts and relevant law but the former president launched into a lengthy diatribe, accusing the judge and New York Attorney General Letitia James of waging a ā€œpolitical witch huntā€ and demanding ā€œdamagesā€ because the real ā€œfraud is on me.ā€

During one portion of his rant, Trump referred to a key allegation in Jamesā€™ lawsuit alleging that the former presidentā€™s Trump Tower penthouse was valued at three times larger than it actually is.

ā€œThey made a mistake. It was an honest mistake,ā€ Trump said.

Jamesā€™ team allowed Trump to speak until the judge ultimately shut him down and pleaded for Kise to ā€œcontrol your client.ā€

ā€œThere may be a reason that Jamesā€™ staff didnā€™t interrupt,ā€ wrote NBC News legal analyst Lisa Rubin. ā€œThe AGā€™s office may have struck gold because some of what Trump said was so damaging to him, especially his explanation of the triplex square footage ā€˜error.ā€™ā€

  • shalafi@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Back in the 80s my McD manager was an ex-Marine, real tough guy type. Chewed out a poor, dumb 16-yo over a $10 discrepancy, accused me of stealing it, threatened to fire me.

    LOL, I was scared to death but I managed to stutter something like, ā€œ$10 is less than 3-hours pay. Why would I risk my job over what I make in half a shift?ā€

    • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      10 months ago

      The amount of power tripping assholes in the fast food industry is astounding

      I saw my fair share of them in the almost 3 years I worked at Burger King

      • shalafi@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Even at 16, I was thinking, ā€œIf you made it through the Marine Corp, fuck are you doing as an assistant manager at McDonalds bossing around high school kids?ā€

        • Kitty Jynx@lemmy.world
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          10 months ago

          Iā€™m a former Marine and the Corps is really bad at preparing a person for life after serving, especially if they are in combat arms. Also some of the dumbest people Iā€™ve met were Marines and they usually made rank because promotions are heavily based on physical fitness and rifle score, and not on technical expertise or leadership skills.