Title Corrected: Trump looks to be 'conceding' loss in E. Jean Carroll defamation trial: legal expert
Based upon attorney Joe Tacopina's abrasive cross-examination of New York writer E. Jean Carroll on Thursday, and Donald Trump's decision to not make an appearance in the Manhattan courtroom hearing her rape and defamation case, one MSNBC legal analyst claimed it looks to him like the former preside...
Based upon attorney Joe Tacopina's abrasive cross-examination of New York writer E. Jean Carroll on Thursday, and Donald Trump's decision to not make an appearance in the Manhattan courtroom hearing her rape and defamation case, one MSNBC legal analyst claimed it looks to him like the former president is conceding the case is already lost.
During an appearance on "Morning Joe," MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos claimed the former president is less concerned with the civil case than he is with looking bad if he takes the stand.
Host Joe Scarborough began by prompting, "I would think an attorney in New York City would not be screaming at a woman who is saying his client raped her -- and time and time again."
That led co-panelist Elise Jordan to interject, "Why doesn't he [Trump] have a female lawyer?" to which Cevallos agreed and stated, "That would be a good strategy, you're absolutely right."
"When he's not even showing up," host Scarborough added.
"Yes, in a civil case you don't have to," attorney Cevallos replied. "But my theory here is that Trump is essentially conceding this battle because he knows he already had a deposition; that's when you sit down, you're under oath, you give a wide-ranging, essentially an interview but you're locked into your testimony."
"The way Trump's team probably sees it, far better to take my deposition, if I'm not there, show the jury the video, even cherry-pick the good parts for the plaintiff," he added. "That is far preferable than me taking the stand in open court and letting a plaintiff's attorney take shots at me."
"So if that means he loses the civil case, fine," he continued. "He probably thinks he's losing a battle, but in his mind winning a political war."
Watch the segment below or at this link.
MSNBC 04 28 2023 06 02 39 youtu.be
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson has thrown his hat into the ring for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination -- and a panel of political experts can see no sense in his decision.
The New York Times convened a group of columnists, reporters and political operatives to assess Hutchinson's chances of beating Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis -- the two early frontrunners -- for the GOP nomination, and they agreed he faced a steep climb in a party that's dominated by the former president and his MAGA allies.
"On Earth Two, where Donald Trump never entered American politics, a two-term conservative governor from the South like Asa Hutchinson would be considered a serious candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination," said Matthew Continetti , a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. "But where we live, and in Trump’s G.O.P., Hutchinson is a long shot."
Hutchinson might appeal to anti-Trump establishment conservatives after calling on the former president to withdraw from the race, but one expert offered.a couple of dismal comparisons.
"Asa Hutchinson probably hopes to be taken as seriously as John Kasich was in 2016," said Daniel McCarthy, editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review. "But he’ll be lucky if he has even as much impact as his fellow Arkansan Mike Huckabee had that year, which was virtually none."
The panelists agreed there just wasn't much of a lane for Hutchinson's brand of conservatism anymore.
"He is, as advertised, a 'consistent conservative' — pro-God, pro-gun, pro-business, anti-abortion rights, anti-big government — aggressively looking to remind Republicans that there is an alternative to the middle-finger nastiness of Trumpism," said Michelle Cottle, a member of the Times editorial board. "Which is also why his candidacy feels deader than disco. Who is his target audience?"
A Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Allegheny County Council in 2021 has been accused of pulling a gun during an altercation at a Republican committee meeting, reported the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Friday.
The problems allegedly started when Eric Phillip Casteel began shouting during the meeting, taking place at the Plum Community Center near Pittsburgh.