Trump's Latest Lie: I Can't Testify Because of the Gag Order.

[Tomef]

You may find that such an epithet, though accurate, is not endorsed by this forum.

TWAT - Trump will act Trumpish. I didn’t realise there was an issue, I grovel in abject self-flagellating disgust at my error.

 

[We Never Know]

If that is just a "misunderstanding" on the part of Trump and his lawyers, they should be fired.

The judge was just being polite. Bless your heart.

"The judge was just being polite"

Or honest. IMO some here could benefit from being either or both more often.

 

[Revoltingest]

You should maybe align them.

And abandon the secret to happiness in life?
Never!

 

[fantome profane]

You call it a lie. The judge calls it a misunderstanding.

Which one, in your opinion, makes Trump more unfit for the office of President? The idea that he lies so brazenly, or the idea that he lacks such basic understanding.

 

[Guitar's Cry]

Given Trump's history of clear hyperbolizing and misrepresentation, even if he misunderstood the order, it is difficult to believe him. I have no reason to believe him when he continually refers to his trials as a witch hunt, accused the judge of not letting him attend his son's graduation, and still says the 2020 election was rigged. The man isn't credible.

 

[Evangelicalhumanist]

I took his statement more as a brain fart than a lie. He is under a lot of stress, and he has always been prone to speaking his visceral thoughts without giving much thought to what he is saying. Right now, he is wrestling with a gag order that could possibly end up with him spending a little time in a jail cell, so he does feel that the court is restricting him from speaking out. Moreover, he has been admonished for trying to interact with witnesses and jury members during the trial. He might have been momentarily confused about the difference between testifying on the stand and speaking freely or interacting with whomever he pleases in the courtroom. OTOH, he does know that a large number of people take pretty much anything he says as "Trump being Trump" and just don't care whether he is lying or not. He gets a pass on most of his lies, so he just thought he would throw this casual lie into the mix to see what happens.

Donald Trump has more courtroom experience than most lawyers! He knows the ropes. Don't make excuses for him.

 

[We Never Know]

If that is just a "misunderstanding" on the part of Trump and his lawyers, they should be fired.

The judge was just being polite. Bless your heart.

"The judge was just being polite"

So you know what the judge thinks? Amazing!

 

[fantome profane]

Donald Trump has more courtroom experience than most lawyers! He knows the ropes. Don't make excuses for him.

I don't know. You might be failing to take into account Trump's rapidly advancing dementia.

I agree, this is not a mistake Trump could have made unless he is having serious cognitive issues. But that is possible.

Of course he could also just be making **** up because he knows his supporters also suffer from cognitive deficits and believe anything he says..

 

[Copernicus]

Donald Trump has more courtroom experience than most lawyers! He knows the ropes. Don't make excuses for him.

Donald Trump's courtroom experience has been limited almost exclusively to civil lawsuits. I don't think he has ever been charged with a serious crime before and had to face possible jail terms if convicted. So he doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation. The rules are somewhat different in a criminal trial than they are in a bankruptcy court or a civil trial.

And I am not making excuses for him. I believe that the man suffers from some serious mental disabilities, so I don't take everything he says as some kind of genius Jedi mind trick played on the public. I think that he makes stuff up as he goes, and then he comes to genuinely believe that what he made up is the truth.

 

[Pogo]

Donald Trump's courtroom experience has been limited almost exclusively to civil lawsuits. I don't think he has ever been charged with a serious crime before and had to face possible jail terms if convicted. So he doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation. The rules are somewhat different in a criminal trial than they are in a bankruptcy court or a civil trial.

And I am not making excuses for him. I believe that the man suffers from some serious mental disabilities, so I don't take everything he says as some kind of genius Jedi mind trick played on the public. I think that he makes stuff up as he goes, and then he comes to genuinely believe that what he made up is the truth.

It may very well be Trump misunderstanding his own lawyers insistence on him not testifying and blaming on something completely different, whatever it is not on the judge or the law.

 

[McBell]

This is a bald faced lie. The gag order does NOT prevent him from testifying.

The gag order only applies to Trump speaking of witnesses, jurors, and families of court staff. Have you even read the gag order?

ORDERED, that the Court's Order of N{arch 26, 2024, is amended as indicated below. Defendant is directed to refrain from:​

a. Making or directing others to make public statements about known or reasonably foreseeable witnesses concerning their potential participation in the investigation or in this criminal proceeding;​

b. Making or directing others to make public statements about (1) counsel in the case other than the District Attorney, (2) members of the court's staff and the District Attorney's staff, or (3) the family members of any counsel, staff member, the Court or the District Attorney, if those statements are made with the intent to materially interfere with, or to cause others to materially interfere with, counsel's or staffs work in this criminal case, or with the knowledge that such interference is likely to result; and making or directing others to make public s)statements about any prospective juror or any juror in this criminal proceeding.​

https://www.nycourts.gov/LegacyPDFS/press/PDFs/Clarification-OrderRestrictingES.pdf

He is simply still trying to con the courts.

 

[Pogo]

He is simply still trying to con the courts.

Or more specifically, the public, the courts and his lawyers know it is just a tactic that is not prohibited to him.

 

[Revoltingest]

Donald Trump's courtroom experience has been limited almost exclusively to civil lawsuits. I don't think he has ever been charged with a serious crime before and had to face possible jail terms if convicted. So he doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation. The rules are somewhat different in a criminal trial than they are in a bankruptcy court or a civil trial.

And I am not making excuses for him. I believe that the man suffers from some serious mental disabilities, so I don't take everything he says as some kind of genius Jedi mind trick played on the public. I think that he makes stuff up as he goes, and then he comes to genuinely believe that what he made up is the truth.

Trump's lawyers would've insisted that he not
testify right from the start. This is standard.
So he knew. But he lied because it would
demonize the judge to the Magas.

 

[Copernicus]

Trump's lawyers would've insisted that he not
testify right from the start. This is standard.
So he knew. But he lied because it would
demonize the judge to the Magas.

I certainly agree with you that Trump would have been told that and should have been told that. And, of course, he does want to demonize the judge to Magas. That does not preclude a brain fart analysis. He makes a lot of those, too.

Donald Trump is as old as I am, so I understand about brain farts. One tends to forget things and make mistakes when under stress, especially as the brain ages and loses mass. Trump's lawyers actually framed it as Trump being upset that he couldn't communicate with people during the trial, because he had actually already tried to interact in the courtroom with witnesses that had testified. He had tried to shake Pecker's hand after his testimony. So I don't think it beyond the pale that he used a term like "testify" incorrectly to mean something like "communicate freely during the trial". I am not denying that Trump makes calculated lies. I'm only saying that I have reasonable doubt that this particular comment was a deliberate misstatement. He may have believed he was speaking the truth at the time he said it.

 

[tytlyf]

<yawn>

Zero integrity. It's like you respect habitual liars. I think you're worried the cult is coming to an end.

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm only saying that I have reasonable doubt that this particular comment was a deliberate misstatement. He may have believed he was speaking the truth at the time he said it.

We'll agree to disagree about
the level of certainty.

 

[fantome profane]

Donald Trump's courtroom experience has been limited almost exclusively to civil lawsuits. I don't think has ever been charged with a serious crime before and had to face possible jail terms if convicted. So he doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation

Don‘t be ridiculous. Anyone who is mentally competent would understand this, even if they have never been in court in their life.

And this may be the first time Trump has been tried for a criminal offence, it is not the first time he has been under a gag order. He has one in the D.C. case as well. This is not new territory.

And he had lawyers. As soon as the gag order was issued, if not before, his lawyers sat him down and explained it to him. If he is mentally competent he would have understood the basic concept.

No, this is not a misunderstanding because he “doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation”. Either he is lying, or he has mashed potatoes for brains.

 

[F1fan]

No, this is not a misunderstanding because he “doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation”. Either he is lying, or he has mashed potatoes for brains.

My assessment is that Trump has such a habit of lying, and lying to exploit falsehoods that will appeal to his followers, that he does it impulsively and perhaps without full intention. He's like a scared animal that falls back on his fear response habits, and that is lying. He is clearly diminsihed, and that in combination with his need to fool himself that things aren't all that bad he is using his statements to his followers as a mantra for himself to hear. I think he says these things to fool himself as much as he's trying to fool his base. His diminished mind is probably an advantage to help him cope, because it's easier for him to be unsure what reality is.

What concerns me is him continuing this delusion into a presidency, and the toxic people he appoints will do whatever he asks. Trump may not be fully aware of what he is asking. We know in his only term that he wanted to do many illegal things that staff refused to do. A second term will see a diminished Trump and no ethical guardrails in place.

 

[We Never Know]

Don‘t be ridiculous. Anyone who is mentally competent would understand this, even if they have never been in court in their life.

And this may be the first time Trump has been tried for a criminal offence, it is not the first time he has been under a gag order. He has one in the D.C. case as well. This is not new territory.

And he had lawyers. As soon as the gag order was issued, if not before, his lawyers sat him down and explained it to him. If he is mentally competent he would have understood the basic concept.

No, this is not a misunderstanding because he “doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation”. Either he is lying, or he has mashed potatoes for brains.

"Anyone who is mentally competent"

Did you not see the rest of their post that's says "I believe that the man suffers from some serious mental disabilities"

Donald Trump's courtroom experience has been limited almost exclusively to civil lawsuits. I don't think he has ever been charged with a serious crime before and had to face possible jail terms if convicted. So he doesn't really know the ropes for this kind of situation. The rules are somewhat different in a criminal trial than they are in a bankruptcy court or a civil trial.

And I am not making excuses for him. I believe that the man suffers from some serious mental disabilities, so I don't take everything he says as some kind of genius Jedi mind trick played on the public. I think that he makes stuff up as he goes, and then he comes to genuinely believe that what he made up is the truth.

 

[Pogo]

"Anyone who is mentally competent"

Did you not see the rest of their post that's says "I believe that the man suffers from some serious mental disabilities"

Your point, it seems to be general agreement, Trump was either intentionally telling a falsehood (lying) or no longer competent to actually understand his position. Which do you prefer or do you just find him so disconnected from reality that he was confused by everything?