Daily Kos: The Brief

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump testify in New York fraud trial

After three days of testimony split between Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, it’s clear that Donald Trump’s legal team in his civil fraud trial in New York has determined that their only way out of this mess is to ask for a mistrial and start over. The problem is, they have no basis for a mistrial.

Presiding Judge Arthur Engoron has already found fraud. Testimony from Jr. and Eric shows they were in it up to their necks. Eric was especially helpful in confirming he took orders from Don Sr. And trying to generate a mistrial may actually be their only legal move, despite being a longshot.

Trump attorney Chris Kise has taken on the task of constantly trying to prod Judge Engoron into something he could potentially cite as an excuse for seeking a mistrial. That’s why he spent much of Thursday and Friday complaining about how Engoron's law clerk hands him notes—which is the clerk's job.

Engoron seems to grasp their strategy. He keeps telling Kise that if he has a real complaint, he should make a motion. Only Kise doesn’t have a real complaint. So he can only shuffle his feet and point to articles on Breitbart.

Donald Trump Sr. testifies on Monday, while Ivanka is trying to get out of testifying by citing the unprecedented hardship of leaving her kids with the nanny on a “school week.” And the courts aren’t biting. More good news: Her testimony could prove very “highly damaging” to Trump and his sons. Daily Kos will be closely following testimony from both Donald and Ivanka Trump next week.


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