As Long As We're On William Barr

Yesterday, Mr Barr continued to speak on interview shows on Trump's legal issues. On Fox News, he said,

In a Sunday interview with Fox News' Shannon Bream, Barr was asked whether Trump would personally defend himself in court if his indictment went to trial.

"I'm not his lawyer, generally I think it's a bad idea to go on the stand," Barr replied. "And I think it's a particularly bad idea for Trump because he lacks all self-control, and it would be very difficult to prepare him and keep him testifying in a prudent fashion."

Here I think Barr is seriously missing the point. Trump has a public persona to be sure, and part of it is his irrepressible naughty-boy image. But it's a persona, and it's part of his appeal to a broad swath of the public. Take the famous example of the Access Hollywood tape, which culminated in remarks he made about Arianne Zucker, whom he and Billy Bush were waiting to meet in a 2005 studio visit:

I better use some Tic Tacs just in case I start kissing her. You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab 'em by the [redacted]. You can do anything.

The great irony of the episode was that, despite the unaninous condemnation of Trump from all quarters, he went on to win the presidency in the 2016 election, while Billy Bush, his interlocutor and a prominent member of the Bush family, was the one who lost his job as Today show anchor in consequence. What was delicious was Trump's role as truth-teller, the Huckleberry Finn, the Holden Caulfield, the Caleb Trask or Jim Stark as played by James Dean. An executive coach describes the role of the truth-teller in leadership:

If you’re in a powerful position or leadership role in which people look up to you, you’re expected to lead in integrity and truth. If leaders lie, how can they ever be trusted?

In my leadership coaching, one of the most important things I teach my clients, is the remarkable power of being the truth teller and what it takes to speak with candor:

A truth teller will communicate and not hold back. Communicate, communicate, communicate. That’s the role of a leader. If you hold back, people will know something’s going on, and they’ll fill the gap with gossip, paranoia, and suspicion—wreaking havoc on the culture of your organization. Be the leader who tells the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

. . . Great leaders are remarkable truth tellers. They know that honest hearts produce honest actions.

Well, if you're a star, they'll let you do it. Isn't that the lesson Harvey Weinstein taught us?

But let's consider another factor: Trump is no dummy. Billy Bush, a mediocre member of the Bush extended family, began a television career at the same time his uncle Dubya rose to the presidency. Somewhere in that encounter, Trump recognized that Billy Bush wasn't playing in Trump's own league, and whatever the outcome of the confidences he exchanged, they would be at best harmless -- but in fact, after 11 years, they would actually help him be elected president. The Wikipedia link above covers the aftermath of the revelation:

The incident was condemned by numerous prominent Republicans. Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus said, "No woman should ever be described in these terms or talked about in this manner. Ever." The RNC suspended all support of Trump's campaign shortly thereafter. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, tweeted, "Hitting on married women? Condoning assault? Such vile degradations demean our wives and daughters and corrupt America's face to the world." Ohio governor John Kasich, a former primary rival to Trump, called the remarks "indefensible"; former Florida governor Jeb Bush, also a former primary rival, called them "reprehensible".

They, of course, would all be among those Trump might characterize as "losers", which they all literally were, but in their conventional mindsets, they were keen to get out of the way as Trump rode to inevitable defeat. I doubt if William Barr was prominent enough in 2016 to be asked for his reaction to the story, but his 2023 characterization of Trump as lacking all self-control could certainly be consistent with Romney, Priebus, Kasich, or indeed Billy's uncle Jeb.

But let's look at what I think is Trump's strategy. On March 18, he made a social media post claiming his indictment and arrest would take place the following Tuesday, but when that didn't happen, commentators began to suiggest that District Attorney Bragg was backing down, or that the grand jury had lost its will to indict. Trump was theoretically going to fade from the scene. But Trump has had a team, or actually teams, of lawyers working on his cases for months, certainly since the Mar-a-Lago raid. We've got to assume they've been planning contingencies and gaming outcomes for a Bragg indictment for a lot longer than just March 18.

So the indictment happened almost two weeks late, on March 31, but it happened. Let's be aware that Trump's lawyers have had an indictment and its outcomes in the script all along. Over the weekend, commentators began to say, "Oh, no! What if the judge, Juan Merchan, imposes a gag order on Trump?" as if this was going to be a big surprise. Right, Trump's lawyers sure will be surprised by that move, huh? What did Trump post this past Friday?

“The Judge ‘assigned’ to my Witch Hunt Case, a ‘Case’ that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME. His name is Juan Manuel Marchan,” Trump wrote, alleging he’d been “hand-picked” for the case by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat.

Now, if I were William Barr, I'd be about to bust a blood vessel over Trump's irresponsibility and lack of self-control. What a terrible thing to do, assail the judge's integrity! How did his lawyers, who must be impotent in the face of this man's narcissistic rage, allow him to post such a thing? Now Judge Marchan will certainly impose a gag order! Indeed, Trump's subsequent announcement that he would make a statement after his arraignment will just provoke the judge further!

But Trump and his lawyers, who probably don't charge as much as Hunter and Joe's, have certainly gamed this whole sequence out weeks ago. The judge will impose his gag order, and there'll be more hand-wringing about an unprecedented crossing of the Rubicon -- and Trump will be the center of the news for a week and more, with his sympathy and support growing apace. And what's crazy is that Trump and his lawyers have taken a page from the Chicago Seven trial of 1969. Judge Marchan will become the next Judge Julius Hoffman:

Hoffman's most notable case was the trial from April 9, 1969, to February 20, 1970, that involved charges against protesters arrested during the 1968 Democratic Convention, originally known as the "Chicago Eight". During the course of the Chicago Eight trial, Hoffman refused to allow the defendant Bobby Seale to represent himself after Seale's original attorney became ill. This prompted conflicts with Seale that led to Hoffman ordering Seale to be gagged and shackled in the courtroom and eventually jailed for contempt. Finally, Hoffman removed Seale from the trial, leaving the case with only seven defendants, at which point the trial became known as the "Chicago Seven" trial. Because of this, and his non-objective attitude, Hoffman became the favorite courtroom target of the Chicago Seven defendants, who often openly insulted the judge. Abbie Hoffman (no direct relation) told Judge Hoffman "you are a shande far dee Goyim" ["a disgrace to the Jewish community in front of the Gentiles" in Yiddish] and that "[y]ou would have served Hitler better." He later added that "your idea of justice is the only obscenity in the room." Both Rennie Davis and Jerry Rubin told the judge, "This court is bullshit."

So far, Bragg and Judge Marchan are playing into Trump's hands. Small-time New York machine politicians are setting themselves up for a national loss, in the media and almost certainly in the courts, even if they temporarily prevail over a rinky-dink case.

Trump understands media. So did Abbie Hoffman, Tom Hayden, Jerry Rubin, and the rest of the Chicago Seven, along with their lawyers. William Barr does not.