The Roadblock That Trump’s Legal Team Can’t Blow Up

The opening statements today in Trump’s criminal trial were enlightening, and not only because of what was said, but also what was objected to and not let in. Trump’s lead lawyer, a former prosecutor with limited defense repeatedly made statements that he knew would be objected to, and sustained, just to plant the seeds in the jury’s mind. And twice was called to sidebar for a dressing down by Judge Merchan.

But the opening statements also displayed a dichotomy in both strategy as well as real events that put a landmine in the middle of the defense’s case. The prosecution stated that Trump’s current persona and history were irrelevant. This case dates back to 2016, and all of the events and evidence stem from that time. Trump wasn’t President then, and the fact that he became President was irrelevant. In fact it played into the prosecution’s case

For its part, the defense played the current day to the bone. They told the jury they planned to refer to him solely as President Trump in deference to his former position and service. They also went hard at trying to rehabilitate the Trump persona of today. A former President, and a loving husband and devoted father and family man. And they alluded that since the allegations of the women were extortion attempts (objected to and sustained by the judge), the prosecution was incapable of proving Trump’s guilt.

But it highlighted a real problem for the defense, Trump’s persona. I just wrote about the issue of Trump’s persona with the jury, and about how in the next 4-6 weeks, the reality of Trump’s true personality is going to clash with the jury’s persona of him. And it likely wouldn’t play well with the jury.

Credit where credit is due. With all my work on Trump’s persona, and the likely outcome, it was Joy Ann Reid on MSNBC’s prime time wrap up that nailed it all to the wall. She flatly stated that the problem with the Defense’s portrayal of Trump’s current persona as a normal, loving father was totally irrelevant to the evidence in the case. And if she knows it, then the prosecutors know it too.

Here’s her extrapolation on what I had already written. Everything the defense is counting on is Trump’s current persona being seen by the jury as sane and normal. But the activity involved occurred in 2015-16, and there is absolutely nothing sane or normal about Trump’s persona during that period. And worst of all for the defense, thanks to their own client, all of it is thoroughly documented.

From the day he set out to put his footprint in Manhattan, Trump’s self inflicted persona has been of a brash, loud, arrogant Lothario real estate billionaire. And how did he get and stoke this persona?

• He impersonated his own PR flack to spread stories in the New York tabloids about his business escapades, and especially his sexual prowess. He became a joke in the NY tabloid media
• In a magazine interview, Trump blithely referred to not catching vatious STD’s during his forays into Studio 54 as being his personal Vietnam, during a time when American soldiers were coming home from Vietnam in body bags
• Trump not only cheated on his first wife, Ivana with Marla Maples before Ivana even filed divorce papers, he publicly flaunted the affair in the media
• After the dicorve, his marriage to Marla Maples, and after she gave him a daughter, it was Maples’ turn in the tumbler. Trump engaged in an affair with his soon to be 3rd wife, Melania, and once again didn’t bother to mitigate the humiliation with denials
• During the decade of The Apprentice, Trump weathered multiple allegations of sexual harassment and providing a hostile work environment. Jis Lowness fobbed it off as a bunch of weak whiners who couldn’t take the heat of his business environment.

Let’s be clear here. This isn’t a persona dug out by the media while Traitor Tot did everything in his power to keep it under the bushel barrel. This is a persona that Trump himself carefully crafted, taking a personal hand in crafting it. There were already multiple accusations from women claiming sexual harassment, abuse, and assault, but Trump brushed them off as jealous losers.

This is the persona that the prosecution is going to try to portray of the 2015-16 Trump. And since, while they can’t actually play the now infamous Access Hollywood video, but they will be able to read it into the court transcript, it blows a hole in any defense contention as to those offenses being a part of Trump’s bad old days. As does the introduction of the E Jean Carroll defamation case.

The prosecution seems to be playing this perfectly so far. In their opening statement, they laid out a clear, concise roadmap of what the witnesses and evidence will show. Lead with David Pecker to shoe the genesis of the catch-and-kill scheme, and introduce a 3rd catch-and-kill with a Trump Tower doorman who said that Trump fathered a love child with a Trump Tower maid. Then come Daniels and McDougal to provide veracity to their claims. And then on comes Cohen, with that damning testimony and all those lovely receipts, including the kill shot, the Cohen audio tape from Trump’s office as they describe the best way to pay off Daniels, and how he’ll coordinate the paperwork with Allan Weisselberg.

And here’s the kicker. It’s the prosecution that’s running the show. Which means that they get to portray the Trump persona they want. And with that being said,

• Why wouldn’t the jury believe that Trump would take a bounce on a porn star?
• Why wouldn’t they not believe that he would spend nine months deluding a gullible beautiful woman that she could by the 4th Mrs. Trump?
• And why wouldn’t they believe that after the release of the Access Hollywood tape, when his campaign was flailing on the edge of destruction, and two women come out with damaging allegations that could be the coup d’ grace, why wouldn’t he enter into a criminal conspiracy to keep those stories from the American voters less than two weeks before the general election?

And the defense can’t do a damn thing about it. They can try to poke holes in the witnesses testimony, but the one thing they can’t do is to poke holes in Trump’s persona. Simply because he ever so carefully crafted that himself.

In closing arguments the defense can argue that the Daniels and McDougal payments were extortion attempts. but the only one who can attempt to directly claim that is Trump himself, and they don’t dare call him to the stand. And if the prosecution cements Trump’s 2015-16 persona in the jury’s mind early, by the time the defense gets their chance, nobody is going to give a sh*t about Trump’s 2024 persona.

And that’s the landmine in the defense’s case. They can’t argue Trump’s 2024 persona to the jury until they get the case, and they can’t deny the 2015-16 persona that the prosecution will allege in their case because it’s cemented in documentation.

It’s the classic case of being hoist on your own petard. Trump spent much of his adult life carefully crafting his playboy persona, and now it’s about to come back to bite him on the ass. Don’t touch that dial.

I thank you for the privilege of your time.