Trump remains under a gag order, which ostensibly prevents him from making negative comments about figures in the case while he awaits sentencing, although he repeatedly toes the line and sometimes crosses it. I can’t help but wonder what he will say when the leash comes off.
"The description I’ve settled on when people ask what it was like seeing Donald Trump in court every day for seven weeks is that it was like watching a cartoon character come to life.
"I was in the courtroom pretty much every day of the trial, chronicling the proceedings on HuffPost’s live blog from my spot on the unforgiving wooden benches that felt like church pews.
"Security protocols in the courthouse meant that reporters were barred from coming close to the former president — we had to sit still while he moved between rooms so as not to pass him in the hallway, and the aisle seats in the public gallery were blocked off to put more distance between him and the people sitting there. He was no ordinary defendant, to be sure.
"So when he sauntered up and down the aisle, reporters watched him carefully. The man most Americans have only seen on their TV and phone screens walks with a slight stoop, arms usually dangling, face usually steely — although he occasionally found somebody in the gallery to single out with either a greeting or a glare. (He was particularly pleased to see Fox News pundit Jeanine Pirro, a staunch ally, seated in court one day. He was particularly displeased by MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell.)
"On the day of his verdict, Trump left looking flushed. His face, already such a unique tone, was darkened." . . .
Exclusive — J.D. Vance: They 'Cooked Up These Prosecutions' to Distract from Joe Biden's Failures (breitbart.com) . . .“ 'In fact, they were upset that Alvin Bragg brought this case because it gave credit to the
idea that this was all a sham, political prosecution. … They didn’t want the Alvin Bragg case at all because it revealed how much this was all about politics and not justice,” he said, pointing to the fact that this ended up being the only case going to trial. Because of that, they have suddenly decided that it is “the mostVance
important trial of the century here, even though we had every single piece of data pointing out that this was politically biased.”
“ 'You have the judge donating to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. You have the financial interests of his [Juudge Juan Merchan’s] daughter. You have the prosecutor funded by George Soros who ran on getting Donald Trump, right — not exactly an objective administration of justice,” Vance said, highlighting the fact that Merchan continually intervened to save the prosecution’s case.
“ 'It was just obviously all about politics. I think the American people see right through it,” he said.
"While Vance said that Democrats “got what they wanted out of this,” he does not think it will end in their favor." . . .
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