Former President Donald Trump’s Thursday courtroom tirade could backfire, legal experts warn.

Trump attorney Chris Kise asked Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trump’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 “political witch hunt” and demanding “damages” because the real “fraud is on me.”

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

“They made a mistake. It was an honest mistake,” Trump said.

James’ team allowed Trump to speak until the judge ultimately shut him down and pleaded for Kise to “control your client.”

“There may be a reason that James’ staff didn’t interrupt,” wrote NBC News legal analyst Lisa Rubin. “The AG’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 ‘error.’

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    Show of hands, please.

    How many people have gotten into trouble at work over a $30.00 error?

    • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      10 months ago

      When I worked in fast food if we were off on our tills by more than $0.05 per $100 we were fired on the spot.

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Sams club in highschool. They used janky things to count bills- by weight. The thing is, a new bill weighs substantially more than an old bill.

        Enough that across 500 in 20’s because they didn’t come around early as often as they’re supposed to, it’s enough to be off by a few bills.

        • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          10 months ago

          We counted our bills by hand luckily, but there were more than a few occasions where some change ended up getting shuffled about in the tray which led to some errors

          The worst was seeing someone get fired and then when the new till was being put in we figured out the $20 bill that was missing got caught in the register some time during the day

          • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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            10 months ago

            or the cash office people, were the ones looting it the entire time. They had their fingers in every one’s drawers and got to see all the camera angles.

        • Steve@startrek.website
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          10 months ago

          Shit covered money weighs more too, what kind of smooth brained fuckboi MBA thought this was a good idea?

            • IDontHavePantsOn@lemm.ee
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              10 months ago

              The kind of asshole that creates a reason to fire anyone at anytime they feel like it, even if the state laws are not “at will”, and if they are, they save on unemployment insurance.

      • 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, “$10 is less than 3-hours pay. Why would I risk my job over what I make in half a shift?”

        • 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, “If you made it through the Marine Corp, fuck are you doing as an assistant manager at McDonalds bossing around high school kids?”

            • Kitty Jynx@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              I’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 I’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.

    • Hasherm0n@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I was fired from a job over an error of about that much. After working there for 5 years.

      Then they fought me on unemployment. The judge was not amused with them

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
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      10 months ago

      No, but I was almost shot in the back over a matter of $80. Thankfully, some guy in a pastel leather jacket named Clint Eastwood helped me out.

    • Taako_Tuesday@lemmy.ca
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      10 months ago

      No errors, but when I was a cashier at Kroger I got in trouble because I wasn’t doing my job fast enough

    • teamevil@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      I had a boss jump down my ass for buying a $3.00 web cam to allow for our radio show hosts to see each other during a broadcast.

    • SinningStromgald@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      If your till was off by $20 or more, including overages, at the theater they would review the footage for your shift. If it was if an accident you’d get written up. Deliberate you’d be fired and possibly charged if it was enough.