The gag "trap" of Manhattan's hush-money trial: "Trump will take the bait"

The gag "trap" of Manhattan's hush-money trial: "Trump will take the bait"
Will Donald Trump take the stand in his own defense? Experts weigh in on his first criminal trial

By CHAUNCEY DEVEGA
Senior Writer
PUBLISHED APRIL 29, 2024 5:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) The second week of Donald Trump’s historic criminal trial in Manhattan for allegedly paying “hush money” to his mistress Stormy Daniels to conceal their relationship from the public during the 2016 presidential election has concluded and week three begins today.

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In an attempt to make better sense of the second week of Donald Trump’s hush-money trial, its implications for the 2024 Election and the larger democracy crisis, and what may happen next, I recently spoke with a range of experts.

Cheri Jacobus is a political strategist, writer, ex-Republican, and host of the podcast "Politics With Cheri Jacobus."

Trump seems small, shriveled, old, pathetic, and weak, falling asleep, (among other things), and whining in pressers and on Truth Social to the point where anyone else would have been tossed in the slammer for violating the gag order. He has no family with him, no friends, and mistakenly thought the streets around the courthouse were blocked because the streets were void of pro-Trump protesters. In fact, the main street was open and only one Trump supporter showed up. If this was happening to almost anyone other than Trump, one could feel sorry for him. Trump's fear is visible. Palpable. And fills me with glee.

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Brynn Tannehill is a journalist and author of "American Fascism: How the GOP is Subverting Democracy."

..... The biggest two things I'm looking for are whether Trump takes the stand (he will want to desperately, but he's a terrible witness, it will likely make the situation way worse, and his lawyers know it), and when he finally crosses the line and ends up spending a night in jail for contempt. I think the latter is more or less a foregone conclusion given he's going to be hearing nasty things about himself for weeks, he has anger issues, poor self-control, and the initial punishment is going to be so weak that it will reinforce his belief that he can get away with it indefinitely. Finally, I'm really looking forward to seeing if the DA can make a convincing case that the way the hush money payments were made was illegal, and not just sketchy and underhanded politics. That was always the toughest hill to climb and made this the weakest of the four criminal cases against him. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/04/29/the-gag-trap-of-manhattans-hush-money-trial-trump-will-take-the-bait/