Former President Donald Trump has given up hopes of winning his $250 million civil fraud trial in New York and is instead focused on spinning the issue to secure his standing as the leading GOP presidential candidate, according to a prominent legal commentator.
John Yoo, a former Bush administration official, said that despite Trump’s defiance that he would beat the allegations of wrongfully inflating his wealth, the 77-year-old ex-commander-in-chief is already “throwing in the towel” as the trial began Monday morning.
“I think that Trump has already decided he’s going to lose on the law,” Yoo told Fox News, citing Justice Arthur Engoron’s bombshell ruling last week in favor of State Attorney General Letitia James’ main claim of fraud.
In a 35-page ruling, Engoron sided with James and revoked the former president’s New York business licenses, which could hamper his longtime company’s ability to operate in the Empire State.
“So what I think President Trump has done is turn this all into a political strategy,” Yoo continued.
Before the trial began, Trump branded James a “racist” and Engoron as an “unfair, unhinged,” judge who has a bias against him.
“This is a judge that should be out of office. This is a judge that some people say could be charged criminally for what he’s doing,” Trump said during the court’s break in the afternoon. “He’s interfering with an election and it’s a disgrace.”
Yoo described Trump’s harsh words as “the acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention,” noting that bashing the judge will do nothing to help his legal standing in the case.
“Attacking the judge for being rogue, saying the press, the main prosecutor, the attorney general, is racist. Now, there’s no way that this judge is going to find at all in the favor of President Trump,” Yoo said.
All this tough talk, Yoo noted, is instead “all aimed at the political sphere.”
The legal scholar also doubted that Trump would win on appeal, claiming judges would steer clear of the case or avoid reversing the facts presented in the trial.
With no hopes of winning, Yoo said Trump is instead focusing his efforts on undermining the Democrat city’s legal system to play to his base.
“So I think what you’re seeing here is actually throwing in the towel on the law and using it instead as a platform to amplify his political message,” the legal expert surmised.
According to a poll conducted exclusively for The Post following the second Republican primary debate Wednesday, Trump remains the top pick for the GOP presidential ticket.
The survey of 1,303 people, conducted by Leger, found that 62% of GOP voters want to see the ex-commander-in-chief emerge as the party’s candidate.
Yoo predicts the trial, which is expected to last until the end of December, will see more of Trump lashing out against the judge and prosecution.
Although he said Trump would be the clear loser in the case, Yoo conceded that New York City also wouldn’t exactly win — with the case at risk of labeling the commerce center as a place conservative-owned businesses should avoid.
The fraud lawsuit brought by James accuses Trump, sons Eric and Don Jr., and the Trump Organization of a decades-long scheme to inflate the value of their assets and save millions on loan and insurance terms.
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