News
‘Publicity Stunt?’: Legal Experts Already Seeing ‘Highly Unusual’ Aspects in Trump ‘Incompetent’ Legal Filing
Legal experts are already noticing curious aspects about Donald Trump‘s legal filing late Monday afternoon – including with the strategy and writing of the motion, and that Trump may be representing himself. In that new filing, Trump asks the court to block DOJ from reviewing the White House records, including classified documents federal agents confiscated two weeks ago, and appoint a “special master.”
Attorney Tristan Snell, who successfully prosecuted the case against Trump University, points to a screenshot from the federal court’s PACER system, and says, “Trump is representing HIMSELF, with no lawyer at all, in his case against the United States regarding the search of Mar-a-Lago and recovery of government records. The legal term is ‘pro se’ – for himself. He could not find anyone to represent him.”
Screenshot from the federal court online system: pic.twitter.com/B1k1OEbHYU
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) August 22, 2022
“There are attorneys on a motion, though,” Snell adds, meaning at the end of the document there are three of Trump’s new attorneys’ names listed.
“So what is going on here?” he asks. “Is this a publicity stunt by Trump? Or some kind of administrative snafu? Or did the attorneys file the motion without first appearing / being admitted for the case?”
“This is highly unusual, to say the least.”
READ MORE: White Evangelicals Buried by Conservative for Abandoning ‘Human Decency’ to Support Trump
Noted attorney and former federal prosecutor Ken White, who runs the popular Popehat Twitter account, calls the filing “just bad,” and goes as far as to blast Trump’s attorneys, writing: “I mean this is shitty on every level. It’s shitty strategy, shitty lawyering, shitty writing, shitty organization. It’s even shitty as propaganda. It’s just incompetent.”
“Last time we had attorney-client privileged docs seized from a client we were in court to contest it THAT DAY. Two weeks later is . . . well,” White writes.
“Also, if I DID take two weeks to file it, with the greatest respect, it wouldn’t look like this,” White says. “This is just bad.”
“Also, when I file a motion, I use a weird trick,” he says apparently with some snark. “I identify the rule or statute I’m invoking that gives the court power to act and the rules governing the process. In criminal cases I cite criminal rules. And cases.”
“Finally, I think it’s fair to say I don’t have a LOT of shame, but I have enough that I wouldn’t file a motion arguing that my client took an official legal position the court should have noticed on Truth Social,” he adds.
Andrew Weissmann, who spent two decades at DOJ, including as General Counsel of the Federal Bureau of Investigation weighed in.
“The new Trump defense that the docs were for personal memoir,” Weissmann says. “1. That’s not an exception in any criminal statute. 2. Inconveniently for you, Gen. Petraeus did just that and was criminally charged.”
Weissmann concludes, “The new Trump Florida court filing is a press release masquerading (tenuously) as a legal brief.”
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.