Many have pointed out that Trump did not choose the defense that stood the best chance of working: "Some of this happened, but the way that it happened was not technically illegal." opting rather for the near impossible "Nothing they say is true, it's all lies. I'm innocent."
This is only a confusing choice if you miss the real way that Trump himself views this case. It's not illegitimate because he "didn't do it" it's illegitimate because he's too important of a person to be charged. 1/
@futurebird I served on a jury a couple years back. Doctor at the local hospital kept accidentally-on-purpose touching on the techs, and one of them had enough of it. His defense was basically “I have no clue what this person is talking about; this never happened” and the lawyer’s closing argument amounted to “this very important man swapped out blah-blah many kidneys last year; it’s wrong to waste his time like this.” NOTE TO LAWYERS: the jury was enraged by this argument. Guilt.
Trump hoped that one or more members of the jury would agree that he was just too important, too much of a luminary of our times to be held to account by the court of the common people.
His lawyers tried their best to voice this absurd argument. They kept claiming he's the "front runner" (as if there would be different rules for a canidate with lower poll numbers) and they kept calling him "president trump" as if that should matter at all in a court of law. 2/
@futurebird That's part and parcel of fascism - that there's a "natural hierarchy" in the world, and those who are "on top" should be able to get away with whatever they want.
Anything else smacks of "unnatural" egalitarianism.
@futurebird https://popular.info/p/all-the-arguments-against-trumps
Prosecutors revealed that deceiving tax authorities was a component of the conspiracy on the first page of the "Statement of Facts," filed on April 4, 2023. The specific nature of these tax crimes — and other crimes that could elevate the falsification of business records to a felony — were discussed in great detail in a November 9, 2023 filing by the prosecution.