‘She’s bringing it’: Expert explains why hearing ‘could’ve been worse for Trump’ https://t.co/qPVd1viSgR
— Raw Story (@RawStory) August 28, 2023
"Let's take the temperature down for a moment," Judge Chutkan said to Lauro as he got "heated over the government's trial proposal & amount of discovery materials," Faulders adds.
Chutkan also told Lauro, “I will say that, I don't doubt from it that you're working diligently but I will say that you and I have a very, very different estimate of what of the time that's needed to prepare for this case.”
Professor of law, political commentator, and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General at DOJ, Harry Litman, responded to Judge Chutkan's "very, very different estimate" remark.
"Comments like this, or calling the Trump submission 'misleading,' are very harsh within the decorous confines of the federal court. She’s bringing it," he said.
After Chutkan set theMarch 4, 2024 date, Lauro said: "We will certainly abide by your honor's ruling, as we must. We will not be able to provide adequate representation ... the trial date will deny President Trump the opportunity to have effective assistance of counsel," according to Politico's Kyle Cheney.
Responding to that remark, Litman observed: "So Lauro is upping the ante -- he's telling her that she is violating his due process and sixth amendment rights and creating an issue on appeal. In addition to the bottom line, which is quite bad for Trump, his counsel is now totally crosswise [with] the judge, a terrible position."
"Chutkan hearing could’ve been worse for Trump, but I’m not sure how," Litman concludes. "She called his lawyers misleading, obviously took their proposal as a stunt, and set a trial date about as early as she might have. Does trump now fire Lauro?"
I suspect that's because Lauro knows he can only hope to win this trial on appeal, though appeal would likely only result in a new trial, not in a dismissal of charges. The DOJ and Chutkan are not going to screw up that badly. Which is not to say Chutkan screwed up today, just that Lauro made sure to note his objections to preserve for a possible appeal. That I don't have a problem with.
But Litman is right: if I was representing a party in that courtroom and the judge told opposing counsel "Let's take the temperature down for a moment," I'd know I was basically home free, and the judge was now focussing on the antics of counsel, not the argument. In every hearing, you're playing for the court's ear and inclination toward your argument. DOJ knew they had that the moment Chutkan chided Lauro about the temperature.
Never a good place for counsel to be.
"Comments like this, or calling the Trump submission 'misleading,' are very harsh within the decorous confines of the federal court. She’s bringing it," he said.
Yup. That's where you relax and continue to make your argument calmly and quietly, knowing the court is much more receptive to you. Judges like Chutkan do a very good job of being impartial (as they should!). This is Chutkan telling Lauro he's not winning any hearts or minds today. As Litman says, Trump got nothing today.
Now what?
Remember that $7 million he claims he raised on mugshot t-shirts (an amount, as CNN pointed out, can't be verified until fundraising reports are filed with the FEC)? Pre-trial work on this case alone are gonna set that on fire. That and lawyers working through the evidence to prepare just this case.
And Trump has three more trials to go through pre-trial practice and then lengthy trials. He's gonna sell that jet before he's through. Not likely to have any use for it, anyway. Prisoners don't get to travel.
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