Why Donald Trump’s lawyers keep losing
Defense lawyers don’t like to be surprised. After all, proper planning prevents poor performance. They dread when newly revealed evidence and witnesses are introduced at trial. But what defense lawyers really hate is a client who isn’t forthcoming. Donald Trump is a habitual liar. So his legal team has two options: inject him with Sodium Pentothal to force him to be truthful, or run like a scalded dog for the exits before getting embarrassed in Congressional impeachment proceedings or a criminal trail.
Trump is a paranoid man with plenty of secrets. He requires employees to sign NDAs. As Stormy Daniels shows, Trump likes to keep his dalliances quiet with hush money settlements. His wives are relatively silent about their experiences with him, which in the case of his first two wives was likely an edict in their divorce settlements.
For those who point to Ivana Trump’s recent memoir, Raising Trump, as proof she can speak her mind, let’s be realistic — he likely had the book vetted.
And speaking of vetting, Trump was unwilling to let his own campaign dig into his background. This is political malpractice, but Trump is a candidate with a giant walk-in closet full of skeletons. His decision to not release his tax returns, a presidential tradition for four decades, is another example of Trump’s lack of transparency.
Considering all the available evidence, it hard to imagine Trump’s legal team, spearheaded by the bumbling Rudy Giuliani, is apprised of everything Trump has done that might put him in legal jeopardy. It is clearly why Trump has been advised to not interview with Special Counsel Robert Mueller. It is also why John Dowd and Ty Cobb determined representing Trump was a fool’s errand and walked away. It is surely why prestigious law firms rebuffed Trump’s bid to represent him. A defendant who keeps his lawyer’s on a need-to-know-basis is making a grave mistake, but Trump plays by his own rules. That is why his fate is sealed.
J.H. Norton is a communications professional, life-long Democrat, and married father of two boys living in Washington, D.C.