Donald Trump is planning to turn his federal 2020 election subversion case into a campaign-style conspiracy-theory-fueled reality TV show filled with falsehoods about the “deep state,” Nancy Pelosi, January 6, Antifa, the FBI, and even his former attorneys – and he’s demanding it be televised.
One person with knowledge of the plans called it a “MAGA freak show,” according to Rolling Stone‘s exclusive reporting. The items Trump and his attorneys have been discussing and planning include:
“Attempts to drag Nancy Pelosi into court to berate her on the stand and, hopefully, on live TV. Claims that the Jan. 6 Capitol attack was an FBI frame job, with an assist from Antifa. Conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was indeed ‘stolen,’ supposedly backed up by still-classified documents. Unhinged assertions that President Joe Biden is now secretly, personally orchestrating an unprecedented act of political persecution. Calls to publicly unmask the federal officials and lawyers investigating the former (and perhaps future) president of the United States. Efforts to blame any illegality on some of the ex-president’s closest confidants and former legal allies. Insinuations of election meddling by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.”
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Rolling Stone calls the defense strategy, “outlandish and feral, even by Trumpland standards, to the point that it’s baffling some of the ex-president’s former lawyers and senior administration officials. One person with knowledge of these strategic and legal discussions bluntly describes the plans as a blueprint for staging a ‘MAGA freak show’ at Trump’s federal election subversion trial.”
The ex-president is facing four federal felony charges in the D.C. case, including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights, which NPR reports “refers to Trump and his co-conspirators alleged attempts to ‘oppress, threaten and intimidate’ people in their right to vote in an election.”
Former top Trump attorney Tim Parlatore, who has represented far-right Christian nationalist GOP lawmaker and conspiracy theorist Doug Mastriano, spoke to Rolling Stone.
“From what I can tell — as an outside observer and former member of Donald Trump’s legal team — about how the trial strategy is taking shape, all I can say is: It is a terrible idea to try to use a criminal trial to stage a political campaign ad,” Parlatore said. “That would be incredibly detrimental to the client.”
“It is also a surefire way for you to quickly alienate jurors, particularly when you’re dealing with a jury pool like Washington, D.C.’s,” Parlatore added. “If I were still on the team, that is not how I would be doing it.”
Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is also prosecuting the government’s case against Trump on his alleged unlawful removal and refusal to return classified and top secret documents, is opposed to televising the proceedings.
“Smith’s team has warned that Trump and his legal team are requesting camera access because they want ‘to create a carnival atmosphere from which he hopes to profit by distracting, like many fraud defendants try to do, from the charges against him.'”
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“It is clear the [former] president would like to turn the trial into a campaign ad as much as he can,” a source “who has legally advised Trump in recent years,” told Rolling Stone. “I mentioned to him that cameras in the courtroom is not what you’d want to do in a case like this. But he and his team see it very, very differently than I do, unfortunately… [Based on what I know], I think they’re going to make it feel like reality TV.”
Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb told Rolling Stone, “It’s not gonna work.”
“Trump and his lawyers, I’m sure, would like to see [the trial] devolve into a chaotic circus, but I don’t think they’re even going to get that… The biggest problem Donald Trump and his lawyers have is that they have no evidence and they have no witnesses… I haven’t seen a single email or document that would be helpful to him… Even if Rudy Giuliani testified for Trump’s defense, Rudy could easily end up making the government’s case for them. So who can they call? They don’t have anybody!”
Rolling Stone editor-in-chief Noah Shachtman, writing on the social media site Threads, calls the Trump defense strategy “batshit crazy.”
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