"Judge Engoron basically gave him the rope, and he hung himself," ex-prosecutor says
www.yahoo.com
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.’”
Former New York prosecutor Charles Coleman Jr. agreed that Trump “hurt himself” with the outburst.
"I think that what he was trying to do was force the judge into a position where, by denying him an opportunity to speak, he would have created an issue for appeal for himself,” he told MSNBC on Friday.
"Judge Engoron basically gave him the rope, and he hung himself, predictably," he continued. "What he ended up doing was creating a space where this is one less thing that becomes an appealable issue in the long run for an appeal. That he might be able to go back and say, 'Look, I was treated unfairly and my rights were abridged in some way, shape, form or fashion.'"
Former federal prosecutor Kristy Greenberg, who was in the courtroom, told CNN she was stunned to “see somebody have so much disrespect” for the judge and the court. (im not. we are talking about trump here)
"The attacks on — the personal attacks on the judge — this is a judge who had a
bomb threat this morning. That's why the amount of security that was in the courthouse was unlike anything I have seen. and I have been other days when various Trump family members have testified, and this was heightened. They were very concerned about threats,” she said.
"I'm waiting for the judge to tell him 'You're done and if you continue you'll be held in contempt!'” she added. "That's what happened to me and any other lawyers happening in courts and it was not done."