Trump’s December 7, 2023 Edition: Delay, Denial, and the Courtroom Grind

Edition · December 7, 2023

Trump’s December 7, 2023 Edition: Delay, Denial, and the Courtroom Grind

A backfill look at the day Trump tried to slow the election case, leaned into his fraud-trial defense, and kept discovering that the legal calendar is not impressed by his branding.

On December 7, 2023, Trump-world’s biggest problem was that the legal machinery kept moving even when the former president tried to jam the gears. In Washington, Trump filed his notice of appeal after a judge rejected his immunity claims in the federal election case, a move designed to slow the prosecution but also a fresh admission that the defense’s best shot was delay. In New York, Trump was back at the civil fraud trial, cheering an expert witness who said he saw no accounting fraud while the judge and prosecutors kept the case’s larger factual record squarely against him. The result was a day that looked less like momentum and more like a multi-front effort to outrun accountability.

Closing take

The through line on December 7 was simple: Trump was still trying to turn every legal defeat into a procedural detour, but the underlying facts were not getting friendlier. The election case was headed for appellate delay, the fraud trial was still sitting on top of a mountain of evidence, and the day’s best Trump arguments all relied on judges or appeals courts buying time. That is not exactly a victory lap; it’s a holding pattern with subpoenas.

Ranked by how bad the fuckup was

5 stars means maximum fallout. 1 star means a smaller self-own.

Story

Trump’s immunity gambit turns into a delay play in the election case

Delay play Confidence 5/5

★★★★☆Fuckup rating 4/5 Serious fuckup

Trump formally moved to appeal the rejection of his immunity claims in the federal election case, a step that all but guaranteed another round of delay before trial. The filing made clear that the defense’s main objective was no longer to beat the case on the merits in the near term, but to keep the clock from running out. For a campaign already built around grievance and stalling tactics, it was a very Trumpian move: if you can’t win fast, try to freeze the game.

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Story

Trump’s fraud-trial defense gets a witness, but the fraud finding was already in place

Fraud defense Confidence 5/5

★★☆☆☆Fuckup rating 2/5 Noticeable stumble

On Dec. 7, 2023, Donald Trump attended court in New York as defense expert Eli Bartov testified that he found no evidence of accounting fraud in the Trump Organization’s statements. But the judge had already found Trump and co-defendants liable for fraud before that testimony, so the day was about rebuttal and damages, not a fresh fight over liability.

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