"Now's the time to cut your losses": Former Trump prosecutor outlines potential "win-win situation"

"Now's the time to cut your losses": Former Trump prosecutor outlines potential "win-win situation"
"All you have to do is agree to be a regular citizen from now on and concentrate on your businesses"

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 23, 2024 6:38AM (EDT)


(Salon) This is the second week of former president Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial in Manhattan for allegedly engaging in a hush-money scheme to conceal his adulterous relationship with adult film actress Stormy Daniels (legal scholar Norm Eisen has more accurately described this first trial as being about the crime of election interference).

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In an attempt to better understand what is likely to happen next in Donald Trump’s first criminal trial, the strategies the prosecution and defense will likely use, what would happen if a so-called “Trump sleeper agent” infiltrated the jury in order to rig the outcome, and why the corrupt ex-president should take a plea deal in exchange for agreeing to drop out of the 2024 election and leaving public life, I recently spoke with Kenneth McCallion. He is a former Justice Department prosecutor who also worked for the New York attorney general's office as a prosecutor on Trump-related racketeering cases. McCallion's books include the companion pieces "Profiles in Courage in the Trump Era" and "Profiles in Cowardice in the Trump Era," as well as "Treason & Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Individual-1."

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One of the prospective jurors told reporters that seeing Donald Trump in court diminished him in her eyes. He didn’t have all the cameras and fanfare around him. He was just a regular person to her. Seeing him in that light surprised her. Is that a common response in your experience with organized crime figures for example?

I've had experiences where the head of organized crime families first walk into the courtroom with their chest outs and chin up like a mafia boss is supposed to act in real life or on TV. But when the evidence starts coming in, and the jurors know that the courtroom is quite secure, and there are marshals in the vicinity who are ready to pounce on anyone who might threaten the judge or jurors, then they start feeling more comfortable. The jurors focus on the evidence, not the man, and not the histrionics and theatrics of the courtroom. They have confidence in the system to keep them secure. The jurors also keep getting reminded of their obligations and the very unique position they are in to decide the facts of the case and render a guilty or not guilty verdict. As Trump's trial advances, the jurors are going to get much more comfortable and focused on their duties.

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How is the defense likely going to proceed?How is the defense likely going to proceed?

.....It's all very tough for Trump because he's in the middle of a presidential campaign. If this was just an organized crime case, there would come a point where he would clutch his chest like he was having a heart attack and needed to be rushed to the hospital. But that would hurt Trump's presidential campaign. The only way he can really save himself is to get a mistrial declared, or make a deal that Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew, made to avoid doing prison time. He would have to agree to withdraw from politics and salvage what he can of his foundering businesses. But Trump is between a rock and a hard place, His ego will not let him to withdraw from the presidential campaign as part of a plea deal, and he can’t fake a health emergency would make him look old and feeble compared to President Biden. Trump really is in a tough spot. ...............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/23/nows-the-time-to-cut-your-losses-former-prosecutor-outlines-potential-win-win-situation/