Drowning in legal trouble, Donald Trump has one strategy: delay, delay and more delay.
If he can somehow push his criminal trials past November 2024 and get reelected, he just might be able to wriggle out of trouble. While Judge Tanya Chutkan in his first federal criminal trial seems determined to stay on schedule, Trump has an ace up his sleeve: He can fire his lawyers.
Former President Trump is the most self-interested, disloyal backstabber in all of politics — that’s an impressive accomplishment. He treats everyone, even his most fervent defenders, like a disposable ketchup packet: squeeze out every drop and then throw it away. His legal team could be the next Trump throwaway. If Trump dumps his legal team on the eve of the first criminal trial, he is certain to get a delay, and likely a significant one — which is just what he wants.
For a typical criminal defendant, firing your lawyers is a risky move. Not only is it expensive, it just delays the inevitable. But that’s not the case for Trump. Delay is the strategy to thwart the inevitable. If Trump can push his trials back enough and win back the presidency, he could force a new attorney general to drop the whole prosecution.
If Trump ditches his legal team right before his March trial date, the judge will have little choice but to delay. Trump will need time to find a new legal team, and that team will need time to prepare for the trial. Could that mean a 90-day delay? Or 120 days?
Actually, it could be a lot more. Once Trump finds that a new trick works, he always pushes the envelope. Expect Trump to be as slow as possible in finding new counsel.
To be fair to Trump, he does not have a lot of options. Who wants to work for this guy? From all the public evidence, Trump is a nightmare client. He doesn’t listen to advice and expects his lawyers to be as over-the-top as he is. He cannot just hire anybody — any lawyer must be admitted to the relevant court, which narrows the field. Plus, if Trump has a crew inexperienced at criminal defense, he is set up for an appeal based on ineffective counsel.
Making things even more difficult, Trump will surely trash his current legal team as they head out the door. He will want to absolutely burn any bridge so that he cannot be compelled to keep his current counsel. Not to mention that nothing is ever Trump’s fault — he is going to make sure everyone knows he is the victim. Further, Trump is notoriously cheap. Is there any doubt that he will try to chisel down any prospect? Any law firm is going to want a big up-front cash payment.
For Judge Chutkan, Trump’s initial move would be just the start of a nightmare bringing him to trial. As Trump delays and delays, at what point could she force him to hire counsel? He could have all kinds of excuses — can’t find the right lawyers, they are gouging him, his last lawyers screwed everything up, etc. What happens if he fires his next legal team? Can Chutkan force Trump to use the Office of the Federal Public Defender?
The potential for mischief is extraordinary, as the legal situation and potential problems are absolutely unprecedented. The federal courts may have to make judgments that have never been made before, and might not ever apply again. And there can be no doubt that Trump will make as much trouble as he can and stretch the rules to the breaking point.
Collateral effects
Once Trump scrams the March trial, everything else gets pushed. The classified documents case date in May certainly would be gone. Trump won’t have to fire his lawyers for that case right away, but that’s probably in the offing if his first gambit works. Cited as the most open-and-shut case, delaying this trial must be paramount for Trump.
The Georgia case before Judge Scott McAfee has yet to be scheduled and is beyond Trump’s ability to cancel, although as president it would be difficult to move forward. The Fulton County prosecution has already stated that this trial could last four months or more, meaning Trump does not have to push things back much to ensure that any trial would not finish prior to Inauguration Day 2025.
And then there are the entertainment effects. The Trump-hating left will have an absolute, all-consuming meltdown over Trump’s move. Imagine the Tsar Bomba explosion plus the Mount Pinatubo eruption and the Chicxulub meteor strike all in one. It will be day after day of rage and teeth-gnashing for weeks and perhaps months.
Adding to the amusement will be the spectacle of yet another troop of Trump loyalists utterly humiliated by Trump. My guess is that Christopher Kise and John Lauro will try to slink back to their respective homes and drop out of sight, hoping against hope that they can salvage their legal careers. As for Alina Habba, she has Stockholm Syndrome written all over her. I have little doubt she will accept blame and grovel for forgiveness on any media outlet she can find. To be fair, she was a total nobody before connecting with Trump. Even in humiliation, Habba will profit from her boot-licking absence of self-esteem.
Chutkan and McAfee’s nuclear option
Firing the lawyers is Trump’s nuclear option. Judges Chutkan and McAfee have their own nuclear option: revoke Trump’s bail and remand for trial.
The key for Trump is not just delaying trial but staying out of prison. If Trump is stewing in the stir, his electoral prospects are likely to diminish severely. Additionally, the prospect of sitting in a jail cell, subsisting on prison grub while lawyer after lawyer refuses his case, might be intolerable. Trump could make the decision he needs to get to trial and hopefully get out on bail during his inevitable appeal.
For Chutkan and McAfee, Trump will surely provide legitimate grounds to revoke bail. Trump continues to be completely undisciplined, and nobody seems to be able to rein him in — or is willing to try. Trump’s mouth is his own worst enemy. The question is whether Chutkan or McAfee have the chutzpah to pull this move.
We know Trump has no boundaries. For him, choosing the nuclear option is like ordering a Big Mac and Diet Coke. Trump won’t blink. He plays chicken better than anyone in politics.
But what about Chutkan and McAfee? Are they willing to raise the stakes beyond what even Trump can handle? Trump cannot make his move until February; that leaves Chutkan and McAfee roughly 90 days to make their move. Will one of them do it?
Keith Naughton, Ph.D., is co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies, a public and regulatory affairs consulting firm. Naughton is a former Pennsylvania political campaign consultant. Follow him on Twitter @KNaughton711.