Hustle before the judges
Trump's fiery speech in court
January 11, 2024, 10:14 pm
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Trump wants to give his closing speech at the impeachment trial. The judge in charge restrains him from doing so. Trump has no reason to be silent. An angry speech that turns into an election campaign appearance. When the judge interrupted, Trump cut him off.
Former US President Donald Trump has once again turned the courtroom into a campaign platform. At a hearing in New York over allegations of financial fraud, Trump lashed out at lawyers, accusing them of trying to prevent him from returning to the White House. “They want to make sure I never win again,” he said, referring to the November presidential election.
Right-wing populist Judge Arthur Engoren ignored warnings not to deliver a campaign speech. When the judge tried to interrupt Trump, he responded: “You have your own agenda and you can't listen for more than a minute.” Engoron then asked Trump's lawyer to “restrain his client.”
Closing arguments in the civil trial began. Trump wanted to make the plea himself, but was denied by Engronel — after the former president refused to accept the judge's restrictions on the content of his own plea. With his decision, Nkoron wanted to prevent Trump from giving a “campaign speech” to the court. This happened after the judge allowed the defendant to add some comments to his lawyer's motion.
Trump sees himself as an “innocent man.”
Trump immediately launched an angry attack on New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who was sitting behind him in the room. She accused him of “hating” her and wanting to prevent her election victory. He described himself as an “innocent” who had been unjustly persecuted. Chief investigator James is a Democrat from President Joe Biden's party.
When he arrived at the New York courthouse, Trump used the opportunity to present himself to reporters as a victim of a politically exploited justice system. He described the process as “electoral interference of the highest order”. The 77-year-old has repeatedly used her court dates for campaign appearances. Trump wants to challenge incumbent Biden in the November election. Months of primaries for Trump's Republicans to choose their presidential nominee begin Monday in Iowa. Trump is ahead in the polls over his inner-party rivals.
In the New York civil suit, Trump and his sons Donald Jr. and Eric are accused of artificially inflating the assets of the family real estate empire over the years to get better terms for loans and insurance. Trump and his children face large fines in the case, but no jail time. Attorney General James is seeking $370 million (€338 million) in fines. Trump and his relatives should never be allowed to run real estate companies in the state again.
Trump has more problems with the judiciary
In his petition, Trump's attorney Chris Kiss questioned whether any false statements made by Trump companies were intentional. There is no “clear and existing evidence” for this. No “inference of fraud” can be drawn from the financial statements of companies.
Trump has other problems with the judiciary. After Biden was defeated in November 2020, he faces four felony charges, including attempting to manipulate the election and taking classified files from the White House. Because of Trump's role in storming the Capitol in Washington in January 2021, there are efforts in several states to exclude him from primary elections – the US Supreme Court plans to deal with the dispute over his participation in primaries. February.
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