The Weekend Wrap: June 2, 2024

Donald Trump Found Guilty in New York

Welcome to the Weekend Wrap! It’s a bit shorter than usual this week, as most of my time and attention has been consumed by the New York Trump trial closing arguments, jury deliberations, verdict, and aftermath.

Here are the week’s white collar highlights:

Trump Prosecutions

New York State Case - Hush Money/False Business Records

Alvin Bragg and the prosecution team after the verdict (Justin Lane/EPA)

As you all know by now, Trump was found guilty on all 34 felony counts on Thursday afternoon, following relatively quick jury deliberations. On Friday I wrote for the New York Times about how I had been skeptical about the case but during the course of the trial the prosecutors won me over. You can find that column here (no paywall):

I Was Skeptical of the ‘Zombie’ Trump Case. I Stand Corrected.

I also wrote a bit more here on Friday about the case, including more detail about why I think that while the prosecutors did a great job, they were assisted by an inept defense. If you missed that post, you can find it here:

Guilty!

Now we wait for sentencing, which is set for July 11.

Before leaving New York, I should say one more time: my hat’s off to the prosecution team. They did a great job with a very tough case.

Florida Federal Case - Mar-a-Lago Documents

You’ll recall last week I mentioned that late on the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion asking Judge Cannon to modify Trump’s conditions of release. He wanted the judge to order Trump to stop making false and inflammatory claims that the FBI had planned to kill him when it executed the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. Smith argued that these claims were endangering law enforcement officials who worked on the case and may serve as witnesses at trial.

On Monday, the defense filed an opposition that I think is best described as . . . whiny. Most of the fifteen pages are devoted to complaining that the special counsel supposedly failed to follow local rules about meaningfully conferring with opposing counsel, and had filed the motion late on a Friday before a holiday weekend. The defense also argued there was no need for such urgency and that the risks to law enforcement identified by the prosecutors were speculative. They asked not only that the motion be denied but that prosecutors be sanctioned for the way they behaved.

On Tuesday Judge Cannon, to no great surprise, agreed with the defense. She denied the special counsel’s motion without prejudice, meaning he is free to file it again. She agreed that the special counsel’s notice and discussion with the defense about the motion on late Friday afternoon was “wholly lacking in substance and professional courtesy.” She laid out her requirements for conferring with opposing counsel in the future and providing the details of that conference in any future motions. She also denied — again without prejudice — the defense motion for sanctions.

It’s discouraging that, rather than expressing any concerns about Trump’s outrageous and dangerous lies, Judge Cannon thought the appropriate response here was to take another shot at the prosecutors.

Prosecutors re-filed the motion on Friday, adding the details about their consultation with the defense as Judge Cannon required. We’ll see what she does with it now.