The Atlantic

Donald Trump Is Any Defense Attorney’s Nightmare

Source: Yuki Iwamura / Bloomberg / Getty

They say that a man who represents himself has a fool for a client. So, perhaps, does a person who represents Donald Trump.

To most people, attacking someone with influence over one’s freedom and fortunes is self-evidently unwise, but that is precisely what Trump has been up to. This week, the former president attended a civil trial in Manhattan to determine what damages he might have to pay in a case about his company committing a massive, yearslong fraud. Justice Arthur Engoron, the judge in the case, has already ruled that fraud did occur, and Trump is furious about it.

“This is a judge that should

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