Judge Shuts Down Donald’s Lawyers

It's the election fraud case that matters

Photo Credit: Spencer Platt

In two different New York City courtrooms, Donald attempted first to have his bond lowered for the appeal of his fraud case, and second to delay his first criminal trial for months.

While most of us focused on the appellate court’s decision to lower Donald’s bond to $175 million, things could not have gone worse for him in his hush money election interference case as Donald’s defense attorneys angered the judge.

After hearing about the significantly reduced bond I was disappointed. Based on a lot of Twitter posts, a lot of people felt the same way. Another double standard, I thought. Everything keeps breaking Donald’s way because our justice system is built to favor the wealthy and the powerful.

But then I spoke to legal expert and fellow Nerd Avenger Jen Taub. Her perspective helped me understand that the real problem wasn’t that the New York Court of Appeals reduced Donald’s bond, though we can still be angry — it’s that the media once again bent over backwards to make us think that Donald had won. That is not what happened today, and by the time you get to the end of this piece, you’ll have some confidence that justice may actually be coming.

Donald’s bond is cut to $175 million from $454 million

Donald was initially required to post the full amount of $464 million to push off judgment as he appeals, or risk the immediate seizure of some of his holdings.

Donald’s arguments underscored the reality that he doesn’t have the cash — thereby undermining his central and most important myth about himself. Be careful what you wish for.

A bond, or surety bond, is a guarantee that a defendant has enough cash to pay the verdict if he or she loses on appeal and the original judgment stands. Donald’s attorneys originally asked Justice Anil C. Singh to allow him to post a $100 million bond. Singh denied the request, although that decision was temporary until the full panel weighed in. Now the bond is almost double what Donald asked to pay.

It’s true that paying a lesser amount is a victory for Donald. Had it been all or nothing at $464 million, AG Letitia James would have started to seize his property immediately. But there are plenty of reasons for the AG’s office to feel encouraged:

As George Conway explained: “the State of New York is guaranteed the ability to collect at least” $175 million “without having to send lawyers around the country chasing Trump’s assets down, which would be a time-consuming, costly, and difficult process … Put more simply, the State of NY is better off having $175 million of the judgment secured than having none of it secured.” They can then seize properties to get the rest if need be.

Letitia James provides perspective

While I never want Donald to win anything, Letitia James put it into perspective for me:

“The $464 million judgment — plus interest — against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands,” she said through a spokesperson.

That’s right. Donald still owes penalties amounting to nearly half a billion dollars (plus the interest that is still accruing) – and while he has to pay a smaller amount for the bond while he appeals, the nightmare of that massive penalty will still be waiting for him on the other side of the appeal should he lose. According to Taub, Letitia James’ case is strong enough to survive appeal:

“I don’t think the verdicts will be overturned [on appeal],” Taub told me. “I think it’s a clear violation of the executive law. There’s no question that both Donald Trump, his two oldest sons, and those executives and the other entities violated the law.”

The corporate media ignored the real story

While the media was focused on trying to convince us that the bond reduction was an unmitigated win for Donald, the results of a hearing in a courtroom a few blocks away was an unmitigated disaster for him…

There, a different team of defense lawyers was arguing that Judge Juan Merchan should delay Donald’s first criminal trial, a case about election fraud having to do with hush money payments, for months. Instead, Justice Merchan, clearly angry with Donald’s lawyers, ruled against them and jury selection will begin in just a few weeks. 

As Donald sat in the courtroom, his attorneys accused the prosecution of “widespread misconduct” and “serious discovery violations,” after they recently released a trove of documents containing around 200,000 pages of evidence related to the case.

“You are literally accusing the Manhattan [District Attorney’s] office and the people assigned to this case of prosecutorial misconduct,” Merchan said. “…and you don’t have a single cite to support that allegation.”

Merchan then scolded the defense lawyers for waiting so long to bring the matter before the court, even though they likely knew materials existed before their last hearing:

“Why didn’t you bring any of this to my attention? Why didn’t you tell the court or anyone in the courtroom at that time that you had made this request?”

“That you don’t have a case right now is really disconcerting,” Merchan added.

Donald’s attorney was reportedly “caught off guard” by the judge’s line of tough questioning and appeared “frazzled.”

As Merchan grew “uncharacteristically furious,” Donald reportedly “stood and scowled.”

The election fraud case is likely the only one that will got tried before November increasing its importance

At the close of the hearing, and despite protests from Donald’s attorneys, Justice Juan Merchan set the criminal hush money trial to begin on April 15. Because it’s a state case, any guilty verdict reached will be beyond federal pardon power.

Prosecutors have told the court they will “need 15 to 17 days at minimum to present their case,” and an outcome will follow when the defense rests and closing arguments are delivered. Judge Merchan has already made it clear he won’t tolerate any unnecessary delays.

What this really means is that today’s decision made it more likely that we will get a criminal verdict before the 2024 election, and possibly with a few months to spare. 

Let me repeat that: Donald could be found guilty of a crime in a court of law before the election.

Why it matters

Up to 53% of key swing state voters say they would refuse to vote for Donald if he were convicted of a criminal offense. That number is even higher, 55%, if he receives a prison sentence. And that’s just one poll. 

A recent POLITICO Magazine/Ipsos poll found that “by a more than 2-1 margin, respondents said that a conviction would make them less likely to support [Donald]…Notably, more than a third of independents said it would reduce their likelihood to support [Donald].”

Of course, if you’re angry about today’s decision? That’s a good thing. Donald’s cruelty, racism, and fascism energizes his base – injustice energizes ours.

The more angry we feel, the more motivated we’ll be to turn out in massive numbers in 2024. 

So of course while the media will tell you Donald won today, after the news, he actually faces a better chance of being a convicted criminal facing jail time before the election. That in turn, makes it significantly less likely for him to win.

Plus, New York State is one step closer to being made whole if they can secure that $175 million bond. That is, if Donald even has that much.

I’ll take that news.