Trump’s lawyers had an unrealistically bold strategy. It worked.

“I’m disappointed in my legal talent, I’ll be honest with you,” former President Donald Trump, told reporters gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower on Friday afternoon. With that decision from Judge Juan Merchan, it’s hard to deny that Trump’s lawyers have pulled off a massive feat. Things played out in Trump’s favor in ways that would have been hard to imagine as the indictments rolled in. But while the 78-year-old nominee isn’t hustling between rallies like he used to, it’s not because he’s stuck in one criminal trial after another. Things played out in Trump’s favor in ways that would have been hard to imagine as the indictments rolled in. At times it feels like that’s despite, not because of, Trump’s orders to his lawyers. The sheer volume of paperwork he’s had lawyers file in motion after motion has cost millions of dollars in legal fees, almost of all of which has been paid by donors to his political campaign. One of Trump’s many co-defendants first called attention to a romantic relationship Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis had with a special prosecutor, and Trump’s attorneys ran with the ball. The idea that there was some heretofore secret absolute immunity from criminal prosecution seemed laughable when Trump’s lawyers were first attempting to delay his federal election interference case. After hearing oral arguments in April, it handed down its ruling that presidents do have absolute immunity for “core constitutional duties” and presumptive immunity for “official acts” on July 1, the last day of this year’s term. And in Florida, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has kept a near constant foot on the brakes in Trump’s federal classified documents trial, once seen as the most open and shut of the cases against him. As Cannon granted even the most absurd motions from Trump’s team full hearings, her calendar became choked, and the case slipped further and further down the calendar. There’s only one thing that could potentially bring this string of victories for Trump to an end: his losing on Election Day. For people clinging to the hope that they’d see Trump sentenced before Election Day, Judge Merchan put the final nail in the coffin Friday when he agreed to a request from Trump’s lawyers to postpone the sentencing scheduled for Sept. 18. He’s due to issue a ruling on Sept. 20 on whether the Supreme Court’s immunity case should affect the jury’s decision to convict, and the delay will allow time for any potential appeal to be filed before Trump’s sentence is handed down. There’s only one thing that could potentially bring this string of victories for Trump to an end: his losing on Election Day. Four years of justice delayed is riding on whether he defeats Vice President Kamala Harris, and Merchan’s decision to not sentence before the election is hard to see as anything but a boon for him. Importantly, though, even Trump losing to Harris doesn’t guarantee that he won’t be able to keep running this same playbook. Given what we’ve seen, there’s still a likelihood that if he’s convicted in other trials that he appeals all the way up to the Supreme Court each time. – This Summarize was created by Neural News AI (V1). Source: https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-lawyers-delay-sentencing-trials-election-day-rcna169998