Yesterday, David Aaron at Just Security took a sober look at what Trump’s sentence might be. It’s very interesting and in the end comes down to “For a defendant with no prior criminal convictions, an offense level of 37 yields 210 to 262 months (17 1/2 to almost 22 years). A defendant who accepted responsibility could reduce that range to 151 to 188 months.” I hope he’s convicted in Bragg’s case before he’s sentenced in this one.
Meanwhile, 2 more of Trump’s attorneys— this time Jim Trusty and John Rowley— have quit and he’s having trouble finding an attorney to represent him. Tim Parlatore had quit the week before, like Trusty and Rowley sickened by all the senseless in-fighting and petty internal feuds. Trump’s polarizing and lots of people— including attorneys and their families hate him and wish him all the worst. He doesn’t accept legal advice and he lies to judges, juries and his own lawyers and he doesn’t pay his legal bills. Oh, yeah, there’s also the matter of so many of his lawyers wind up becoming subjects of investigations themselves, some even charged with criminal offenses.
One of his high-profile former lawyers, far right crackpot John Eastman, is about to lose his license to practice law (as Rudy Giuliani did). Other Trump attorneys whose law licenses are in serious jeopardy include Jenna Ellis, Jeffrey Clarke, Lin Wood, Sidney Powell, Ernest Walker, Scott Hagerstrom, Erick Kaardal, Stefanie Junttila, Alina Habba and her associates Michael Madaio, Peter Ticktin and Jamie Sasson, as well as Gary Fielder, Howard Kleinhendler, Emily Newman, Gregory Kohl, Brandon Johnson and Julia Haller.
On Sunday, Trump’s ultimate attorney, former Attorney General Bill Barr, went on Fox News and said the indictments are "damning" and solid, that Trump’s not a victim of a witch hunt and that he is “toast.” Trump’s response was to flip out and call Barr a “gutless pig,” a “disgruntled former employee and lazy Attorney General who was weak & totally ineffective.”
Roger Stone interviewed Trump Sunday on his podcast and Trump sat around insulting Barr. "Bill Barr," he said, "I think he’s more weak than anything else. Now he goes and he sits down, if they can find a chair for him, because it’s not that easy, and he just bloviates. It’s disgraceful. It’s so... it’s actually unpatriotic and so bad for our country. He’s got a lot of hatred. I fired him for just not doing his job."
Remember back in 2015-16 when everyone was worried that Trump had no idea how to be a president? He and Ivanka both talked about how he only hires the best people. In 2015 he promised “I am going to surround myself with only the best and most serious people… top of the line professionals.” Ron Filipkowski pointed out on Twitter that since then Trump has called his cabinet members other lovely things besides “gutless pig.” Those he promised would be “only the best,” he has described to as “Dumb as a rock,” “Mentally retarded,” “Milk toast, “He got eaten alive,” “Couldn’t handle the pressure,” “Highly unstable nutjob,” “A fool,” “Abused staff, “Weak and totally ineffective, “A lightweight,” “A disgrace, “Dumb southerner,” “Disgraceful,” “Scared stiff,” “An idiot,” “Mr. Magoo,” “Dumped like a dog,” “Overrated,” “No energy,” “Slow and boring,” “Disappointing,” “Fucked it all up, “Washed up,” “Disgruntled boring old fool,”
“Never had a clue,” “A dope,” “Liar,” “Too short,” “Didn’t look the part,” “Not tough enough”… while denigrating his Secretary of Transportation, Elaine Chao, in anti-Asian racist terms, further endearing him to her husband, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.
