Trump complains in latest hush-money delay bid that Manhattan already thinks he's guilty, and Michael Cohen keeps saying 'Donald von Shitsinpants'
Clearly, Team Trump has been busy, and on a granular level.
- They've hired pollsters who found that 61% of Manhattan potential jurors already believe Trump is guilty of something, nearly twice the rate of surrounding counties.
- Trump's lawyers point the judge to two times this month, on March 5 and 10, when Cohen referred to Trump on X — formerly known as Twitter — as "Donald von shitsinpants" and, alternately, "Donald Van fucking Shitsinpants."
- "To anyone who will listen, especially if they are paying, Cohen has and will continue to spew vitriol into the public sphere regarding President Trump, including in the buildup to the potential trial," the delay motion complains.
- "And likely during it," the motion adds.
- Like Cohen, Daniels, given name Stephanie Clifford, has not let her upcoming star turn on the witness stand stop her from attacking Trump in public.
- She's also been promoting her bombshell-filled documentary, "Stormy," which premiered on Peacock on March 18.
Trump "is indeed a monster," they quote her saying in a podcast from January, in which she called his followers, "fucking insane."
"She is trying to make money based on this case, which is perhaps related to the fact that she owes President Trump approximately $670,000," the defense motion says. The bill references the total, with interest, she was ordered to pay after the dismissal of a 2018 lawsuit.
"Defendant, either directly or through counsel, has repeatedly stated publicly that the defense goal is to delay these proceedings, if possible, past the 2024 presidential election," Merchan complained in a decision last week.
- Doomed though it may be, Trump's bulky and energetic last-ditch delay bid offers a sometimes surprising inside look into what Trump's lawyers have been up to these days, during the lead-in to the GOP frontrunner's first criminal trial.
Trump has pleaded not guilty, and insists he is the victim of a politically-motivated "witch hunt." He faces anywhere from zero to four years behind bars if convicted, though legal experts have said jail time is unlikely.
Bad polls, bad press
Manhattan is not Trump country, the defense delay motion notes.
Prejudicial media coverage has left Manhattanites "overwhelmingly" biased against Trump, his lawyers complain, citing polling from their outside public research firm, Moore Information Group.
Founded by a former executive director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Bob Moore, the company has polled for numerous GOP candidates, including for Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign, according to its website.
Pollsters surveyed a sample of 400 Manhattan residents, the delay motion says.
Some 70% of those polled had a "very negative" opinion of Trump, the defense says the polling found. Some 60% said they voted against him in the past and plan to vote against him this year.
But while roughly 60% of Manhattan residents already believed he is guilty of unspecified "criminal charges," only 35% believe he is guilty in the hush money case.
Prosecutors may well counter that 35% is a number that they, and the judge, can easily work around in jury selection.
So-called "leaks" by the DA
- The motion cites more than a dozen "prejudicial" stories about the hush money case and the perjury prosecution of former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
- The stories, including one by Business Insider, cited unnamed sources in revealing the progress of Manhattan grand juries that investigated and ultimately indicted Trump.
"President Trump cannot get a fair trial in Manhattan County right now," the delay motion concludes, asking for unspecified adjournment "until prejudicial press coverage abates."
An attorney for Trump and a spokesperson for Bragg did not immediately respond to requests for comment on this story.
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