Donald Trump’s rough week

Donald Trump had a rough week. He got stung by two different judges-Aileen Cannon denied his motion to dismiss based on top secret papers being his personal property. Shortly before that ruling was issued, Scott McAfee denied Trump’s motion to dismiss in the Georgia case based on first amendment rights. If these are the best defenses Trump can produce, he might as well hang it up. Of course, Judge Cannon won’t give up trying to help. She still hasn’t set a trial date in that case.

Judge McAfee explained that Trump wasn’t indicted for his speech; he was indicted for using that speech in furtherance of a criminal enterprise. Like anyone else, Trump can talk all he wants; however, he cannot make up lies to use in a criminal endeavor. Judge McAfee ruled that Trump’s speech is a jury question, and he will leave it to them. DA Fani Willis still expects this trial to begin in August. There have not been as many delays in this case as the federal courts, so we’ll hopefully see it begin as Willis would like.

Even as Trump is battling the documents case and the election interference case in Georgia, he has successfully held the federal election interference trial at bay for now, with some help from the Supreme Court, but there’s one criminal trial he won’t be able to delay-Judge Juan Merchan’s hush money trial. Last week Judge Merchan rejected Trump’s latest delay tactic in that case. He had the nerve to try to use the immunity defense, when he wasn’t even the president until after the Stormy Daniels’ payoff, so it’s hard to imagine that defense going anywhere in that case. Merchan didn’t, however, rule on the issue at all. He ruled that Trump waited to late to raise it. Whatever it takes, Trump going to trial on any of his myriad charges is a good thing. This trial is set to begin on April 15.

The one good piece of news Trump received came via the New York Court of Appeals, which lowered his bond from the full judgment levied against him to $175 million. The bad news is he still doesn’t have it yet. According to Newsweek, Letitia James raised the question of whether Knight Insurance Group-which is based in California-could or should be authorized to provide bonds in New York. On top of everything else, Newsweek reported that shares in Trump Media & Technology Group took a dive last week by 21%. Of course, the major asset in that company is Trump’s Truth Social, and that speaks for itself with respect to dropping rates. Who wants stock in that nonsense company? The loss suffered by TMTG decreased Trump’s worth by more than $2 billion.

As if all his legal and financial troubles weren’t enough, last week showed President Biden making a strong comeback in recent polling, including a 10-point lead in Pennsylvania. No one wants to be in Donald Trump’s shoes, even more so now.