Former President Donald Trump is contending with four criminal cases in various cities, with numerous lawsuits. The majority of legal proceedings have primarily taken place in New York. Both sides anxiously await a judge's decision in a state attorney general lawsuit that accuses Trump and his company of fraud.
Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 in Washington, D.C.
Concurrently, an ongoing trial in New York revolves around defamation claims by writer E. Jean Carroll. Carroll alleges that Trump owes her compensation for statements he made while president, during which he vehemently denied any attack on her or knowledge of her.
The former president faced a judge's threat of expulsion from the courtroom last week due to his behavior.
The Associated Press revealed that Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, didn't fare any better. Habba was ordered to "sit down" after continuing in vain to press a point that the judge had rejected, prompting the lawyer to respond: "I don't like to be spoken to that way, your Honor." She was also later rebuked for sitting instead of standing while addressing the court and was chided the following day over how to properly question a witness. "Evidence 101," tsk-tsked Judge Lewis A. Kaplan.
Donald Trump's Strategy
Anticipated clashes in court have become a regular occurrence as Trump's lawyers bring the assertive and confrontational style from his campaign trail into the legal proceedings. Their arguments appear more geared towards pleasing the client than addressing the court, frequently highlighting Trump's front-runner status in the presidential race. They echo his assertions of prosecutorial bias and political persecution while presenting broad theories of legal immunity, often facing skepticism from judges.
"Trump is really only there as a provocateur," said Ty Cobb, who led the Trump White House legal response to the Russian election interference investigation. "He wants to be admonished and he wants his lawyers admonished as much as possible to feed the impression that he fraudulently sells to his supporters that the judges are being unfair to him and that he's a victim," Cobb told The AP.
