- There’s “no way” Trump’s reaction to his possible indictment will help him, defense attorneys said.
- Trump “is almost an impossible client” for lawyers, attorney Mark Bederow told Insider.
- As a potential indictment looms, Trump has gone wild on social media, calling for protests.
As a potential indictment looms against Donald Trump, the former US president has gone into all-out attack mode via social media, calling for protests, and reportedly considered smiling for a perp ride and expressed his desire to be paraded in handcuffs.
But there’s no way Trump’s explosive approach to his possible indictment over allegations of silently paying adult film star Stormy Daniels will help him in a courtroom, lawyers tell Insider. criminal defense unrelated to the case.
“There’s no way in hell [Trump’s ] lawyers, from a criminal defense perspective, see that as an advantage,” top attorney Mark Bederow told Insider on Thursday, adding that Trump “is almost an impossible client” because “he’s going to do whatever he wants. ‘he wants”.
Bederow, a former prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, called Trump’s recent behavior toward his potential indictment a “terrible look” that demonstrates “instability” and “poor judgment.”
Trump’s “irrational behavior” plays into the hands of prosecutors, Bederow said.
“There’s no way Trump begging to be perp-walked and handcuffed and demanding his supporters protest will help” a potential criminal case, Bederow said. “Why he thinks it helps him is beyond me.”
“It’s madness,” Bederow continued.
Florida criminal defense attorney and former Justice Department attorney Richard Serafini told Insider, “You don’t see defendants acting like that, and there’s a reason they don’t. , because there is a huge downside.”
“You don’t want to be in a position where essentially your client has thrown the gauntlet to prosecutors and said, ‘I dare you to indict me,’ which is almost what [Trump’s] do,” Serafini added.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has convened an ongoing grand jury to investigate whether to indict Trump over allegations of a silent payment of $130,000 that former Trump lawyer-turned-nemesis Michael Cohen says he did under Trump’s guidance to Daniels during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels said she slept with Trump in 2006. Trump has always denied the alleged affair with Daniels and claimed he never paid her to be quiet.
If the grand jury votes to indict, Trump would become the first former president to face criminal charges.
Trump, who called Bragg’s investigation a “witch hunt,” continued his attacks on the Democratic DA on Thursday on his social media app, Truth Social, calling for his removal, describing him as “a danger” to the country, and accusing him in an all-caps rant of being a “Soros-backed animal that just doesn’t care about right or wrong.”
Commenting on Trump’s slamming of Bragg as an ‘animal’, Bederow called it yet ‘another example’, saying ‘there’s no way’ the former president’s legal team is ‘tolerating anything. like that”.
“That’s as dumb a statement as anyone could make,” Bederow said.
Serafini added that if behavior like Trump’s “tends to succeed” in criminal cases, “defense attorneys would tell their clients, ‘Go out and act like a fool, call a press conference, shout stupid things about prosecutors.’ “
“It’s absolutely crazy from a normal defense perspective,” Serafini said.
But, Bederow and Serafini said the strategy could be politically beneficial for Trump, who has already launched his 2024 presidential campaign.
“From a political point of view, he sees an advantage in it,” Bederow said of Trump. “You know, he’s going to do a clown show with [any potential legal] procedures as much as he can, again for his political benefit.”
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