Trump is 'playing with fire' if he pushes his 'garbage argument' in Judge Chutkan's courtroom: biographer

During an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday morning, Donald Trump biographer and Bloomberg Opinion executive editor Timothy O'Brien said the former president is entering new legal territory as he faces federal charges in a D.C. courtroom and has no idea how to conduct himself.

Speaking with fill-in host Charles F. Coleman Jr., O'Brien stated that the former president's "garbage argument" about his ability to talk about his trial is not going to fly in United States District Court for D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkan's courtroom.

Noting that the former president has previously never been "fully held accountable because he has this mythic invincibility," he added, "But the reality is, he's never been subject to an intense criminal proceeding with devoted and dedicated prosecutors, pounding the fact pattern, and his own defenses in an indefatigable way and that's happening right now."

Adding, "I think he's not used to playing in that court," he later explained, "I think Judge Chutkan is saying, you can make a First Amendment right argument, but your First Amendment privileges, your right to free speech, they don't extend into subverting the judicial process and they don't extend into intimidating potential witnesses or tampering with the jury."

"Because no one is immune from being held to the same standards in a court of law as everyone else -- so yes, he can make this argument, his lawyers have made it in every case has come up recently in both federal indictments, to say that this is the government trampling on his rights of free speech," he continued. "It's a garbage argument, it's a gossamer argument. Legally, I don't think it's gonna get him anywhere."

He later added, "He is really playing with fire. I think Judge Chutkan has said, 'If you choose to talk about evidence that you see, or if you choose to talk about anything that's become public in an evidentiary way in this trial, I will hold you to account."

"She's given him a first warning," he added. "I expect others to come, he's not an easily to silence person as we all know."

Watch below or at the link.

MSNBC 08 12 2023 10 05 41youtu.be