A well-known phrase among lawyers is that lawyers make the worst witnesses. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is a perfect example. She put on a clinic on how not to testify. It was painful to watch. She did everything you warn a witness not to do: argue and attack the attorney who is questioning you, avoid answering the question, go into areas that the other side was precluded from asking (opening up the door), give speeches instead of answering the questions, and get admonished by the judge.
It was also not a good look with all of the discussions about her having so much cash. People associate people who keep a lot of cash at home as criminals and tax cheats. There is no good reason for a law enforcement officer to keep so much cash at home, whether or not it was her family’s custom. When you take a position as a district attorney, you need to be sensitive as to the appearance of your conduct. This is clearly something that DA Willis was clueless about. I am not the only one who was not happy with her presentation. Originally, she was supposed to continue with a second day of testimony with her office having the chance to question her, a friendly witness. This would have been a chance to try to clean up the mess she made on the first day. She did not end up testifying. They must have decided that the best thing to do is to cut their losses. If they questioned her, then the other side would have the right to also question her. They saw enough of how well that went and decided to end the testimony.
Although there was no jury in the courtroom, since the hearing was televised, there was a jury - namely, the American people. When I heard her testify, I felt like I was watching Donald Trump in heels. She did not act the way a prosecutor should act, and has damaged the case with her conduct. It is time for her to step aside and let someone else in her office take the lead. If not, her arrogance that caused this problem in the first place will destroy the case.
The second case I want to discuss is Judge Arthur Engoron’s decision in the case brought by the attorney general against 15 individuals and entities including Donald Trump, the Trump organization, and his two children, Eric and Don. Jr. It is a 92-page decision that I advise everyone to read. The amount of the judgment is what has gotten the most attention. The court awarded a judgment of $354,868,760 plus interest against Donald Trump and portions of the amount against the co-defendant corporate entities, and separately $4,013.024 against Don Jr. and Eric Trump and $1 million against Allen Weisselberg.
I know Trumpians are screaming that the result is unfair. If you do not like the result, don’t blame the attorney general or the judge; they didn’t make the law. It was the New York State legislature that created this law back in 1956. The attorney general did her job by enforcing the law and the Court did its job by deciding the case based on the law. Donald Trump may think that attacking the result as unfair and saying the judge is corrupt is a winning political strategy. However, it is not. I would expect that he will raise on appeal among other issues the amount of the award, which I believe is his best chance of winning on appeal. Despite what has been said by some “legal experts,” Trump and the other defendants could go ahead with an appeal even if there is no stay (of enforcement) of the money judgment. The risk is that the Attorney General could proceed to try to enforce the judgment while the appeal is pending. I would assume that Trump will try to get a stay of the judgment first, arguing that he does not have to provide any security, or if he does, to put up as little as possible for a bond. The other defendants who have a money judgment against them are in the same position.
It also appears that the first criminal case to be tried is the “hush money” case in New York County is now scheduled for jury selection on March 25. This is the case Trump wanted to happen first since he figures it may be the weakest one and will also have the least negative political impact. The Manhattan District Attorney is creatively framing this case as an election interference case, relying on the timing and the motives for the payment. The payment was made to keep the information not from his wife, but from the American people right before the 2020 election.
Meanwhile, we still wait for a decision from the United States Supreme Court whether they are going to grant a stay and take the appeal from the DC Court of Appeals, who rejected Trump’s absolute immunity defense. If they do not, Trump’s election interference trial in DC will proceed. In addition, the Supreme Court still has to decide whether Trump could be kicked off the ballot based on the 14th amendment.
As an appellate lawyer, I find these cases fascinating. As an American citizen, I find the fact that it appears Trump will end up being the Republican candidate for president despite these and other cases as tragic. People see what they want to see and disregard the rest.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
