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‘Can’t look weak’: Expert says Trump lawyer stuck between a ‘crazy’ rock and a hard place



Former president Donald Trump's attorney Todd Blanche is stuck between a rock and a hard place in the form of a "crazy, unreasonable client," according to former federal prosecutor Harry Litman.

Litman's analysis Tuesday came on the heels of proceedings in the criminal hush money trial that saw Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Trump's lawyers debating whether the former president had violated his gag order.

Trump's lawyer, Blanche, was ridiculed by legal experts who said he failed to craft an argument without case law to back it up.

"I don't have any cases," Blanche said in court. "It's just common sense."

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"You're losing all credibility," Judge Juan Merchan replied.

"Hard to maintain with a straight face," former prosecutor Joyce Vance said of the battle between Blanche and the judge.

CNN's legal analyst called it an outright "disaster," because it went so poorly for Trump.

According to Litman, this exchange put Trump's lawyer in difficult position.

"Blanche needs badly to work hard to regain Merchan's trust, but he's between a rock and a hard place," Litman said. "He can't look weak in front of his crazy, unreasonable client."

Trump's former impeachment attorney, Robert Ray, tried to downplay the exchange, saying he's had judges say things like that to him before.

Speaking to MSNBC Tuesday, Ray explained that Blanche likely conveyed "he wouldn't be so easily intimidated."

Former Brooklyn prosecutor Charles Coleman disagreed, saying that running afoul of the judge this early in the trial was a problem.

"That was the most explosive," he told Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday afternoon. "That is — for as accomplished an attorney as Todd Blanche is, I don't understand the argument he made. To have a judge tell you that you are losing credibility this early in a trial is really, really dangerous ground to operate on."

Even teenagers were ridiculing Blanche. Two students came to court to observe the trial, including one 14-year-old who thought the exchange between Merchan and Blanche was "funny."

"When the defense attorney was basically annihilated by the judge," said Hope Harrington outside the courthouse. "It was — it really made my day. It was really funny. He had no evidence whatsoever."

‘Accountability is here’: Ex-prosecutor predicts conviction after Trump hush money trial



Donald Trump is likely going to be convicted in the hush money cover-up case he's currently facing, but the real punishment is being forced to be a criminal defendant, a former prosecutor said Sunday.

Legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti appeared on MSNBC's Alex Witt Reports, where he was asked about whether or not Trump will be held accountable for any potential wrongdoing.

"Big picture, Renato, do you think some sense of accountability is near for Donald Trump, given everything in his legal sphere that is going on?" the host asked.

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"I personally think some measure of accountability is here for Donald Trump," he responded, noting that the New York trial is likely the only one to take place before the upcoming election. "I do not think he wants to be sitting in a cold courtroom. I do not think he is enjoying this experience. I think he feels humiliated. He is being ordered around by a judge referring to him as Mr. Trump and telling him what to do. I think there is already some measure of accountability."

That being said, however, Mariotti also made a prediction about the case's conclusion.

"Do I think there is likely a conviction here? Yes, I do. Obviously that is not the only piece of this that I think has an impact on Donald trump."

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