How Trump’s legal team is using 'Fyre Festival strategies' civil fraud trial a 'media circus': report

New York State Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud lawsuit has not been going well for the Trump Organization.

Justice Arthur Engoron has agreed with James that former President Donald Trump seriously exaggerated the value of his company's real estate asserts. Now, with a bench trial underway in the case, it remains to be seen what type of sanctions the Trump Organization will face. And Engoron has already fined Trump's lawyers $7500 for their conduct.

In a report published by Rolling Stone on October 9, journalists Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng stress that Team Trump's strategy, at this point, is to create a "media circus." A source closed to Trump described their approach as "Fyre Festival strategies" — a reference to the fraudulent music festival pushed by rapper Ja Rule and con artist Billy McFarland.

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Rawnsley and Suebsaeng explain, "Trump and his lawyers are hoping that their legal strategy in their ongoing courtroom 'suicide mission' will score some political and public-relations points for Trump, kick up as much dirt as possible, enrage the judge, gratuitously trash some of the witnesses, and turn the process into a media circus."

Trump's attorneys, according to the journalists, "have crafted a courtroom game plan that leans on heavy-handed tactics such as deeply personal…. attacks on witnesses, prosecutors, and the judge — and also, planned threats of retaliatory lawsuits against some of those same people."

An attorney who has known Trump for years told Rolling Stone, "A lot of this is just begging for sanctions. It is not how I'd do it, but…. maybe that's a reason I'm not on the (legal) team."

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Read Rolling Stone's full report at this link (subscription required).