Trump Plea Deal Gets New Timeline From Ex-DOJ Prosecutor

Donald Trump will eventually take a plea deal for either his civil or criminal cases but his ego won't let it occur for many months, a former Justice Department official predicts.

Trump has been in attendance for the first two days of his civil fraud trial, presided by Judge Arthur Engoron as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million fraud lawsuit. She sued the ex-president, his adult sons and The Trump Organization for allegedly inflating his assets and net worth by millions of dollars. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

Last Tuesday, Engoron ruled that Trump, his sons and the family business were civilly liable for fraud in a decision that partially granted James' motion for a summary judgment. In turn, Trump referred to Engoron as "deranged" and "doing the bidding" of the attorney general.

Kenneth Foard McCallion, a former DOJ prosecutor who also worked as a prosecutor on Trump-related racketeering cases within the New York Attorney General's Office, told Salon that Trump is more afraid not of going to prison for any of his legal entanglements but the public humiliation that would result from any legal convictions or property losses.

"[Trump] must have some awareness of the serious legal predicament he is in at this point, but he has to try to maintain a tough public facade for as long as he can," McCallion said. "Trump will hold out until the last possible moment and then he will take a plea deal or some other arrangement with the prosecution.

"But at this point, Trump's ego won't let him do it—at least for another six months or so."

Nick Akerman, former Assistant Special Watergate prosecutor and former assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, told Newsweek that the prospect of Trump vying for a plea deal seems unlikely considering how he has approached all of his legal cases.

For Trump, who Akerman said is calling the legal shots and "frustrating" his attorneys, the possibility of him entertaining a plea agreement could come to fruition if he somehow faltered in the GOP primaries and another candidate or two possibly garnered more support from the Republican electorate.

"[Trump] could use it to get out of all this," Akerman said. "If somehow candidates broke through and Trump was going down, maybe he might be more open. He certainly at that point would be more serious with the arrangement.

"But part of his problem is he's got three different jurisdictions to deal with. It's gonna be hard to arrange a global clearing. That's gonna be a real trick."

Aside from the fraud case in New York, Trump has been indicted in Manhattan and Fulton County, Georgia. That doesn't include the federal cases in which he has been indicted after investigations by DOJ Special Counsel Jack Smith.

The summary judgment ruling by Engoron also puts the former president in a bind, Akerman added, who said Trump has "already lost the case" in a sense as there has been no movement on behalf of his legal counsel to contradict James' evidence as put forward in the original lawsuit.

Akerman said that if he was part of the prosecution, he would have made Trump take the stand for the civil fraud allegations and watch him plead the Fifth Amendment for five to six days.

"Trump basically tells his lawyers what to do," Akerman said, referring to the opening statement by his attorney Alina Habba—who instead of discussing the facts of the case alluded to Trump's business empire and presidency.

"He's not letting the lawyers run the show," he added. "He's telling them what to do. I think you see that with what happens in court and the last couple days of him being there. They're not playing to the judge, they're playing to him."

McCallion agrees, telling Salon that Trump's counsel is not part of a legal A-team and that it's indicative of other high-powered attorneys forgoing the opportunity to represent Trump so as not to sully their own reputations—and potentially be held liable and face sanctions or being disbarred.

He alluded to how former attorneys like Rudy Giuliani have fared after vociferously defending the ex-president.

"They will have to tell Trump, or it will become apparent to him, that he needs an exit strategy—and sooner rather than later," McCallion said. "Trump and his team will try muddying the waters and engaging in legal kabuki theater for the next few months.

"But ultimately the day of reckoning will come in the New York proceedings, or in D.C. or Florida or Georgia, whichever may come first."