The Scent of Desperation

I feel like getting married, or committing suicide, or subscribing to L'Illustration. Something desperate, you know.
-- Albert Camus, A Happy Death

Facing an imminent criminal trial in New York for his hush money payments, trump isn't just getting annoying he's getting DESPERATE.

he's getting his lawyers to file last-minute demands to move the trial venue out of Manhattan as yet another means of delaying the start, and he's trying to file a lawsuit directly against the judge to force a recusal. With regards to the venue, well this is how the upper court handled it (via ML Nestal at Raw Story): 

Judge Lizbeth Gonzalez denied the former president's request to move the venue out of New York City without explanation in a one-sentence order, according to multiple reports.

I bet the one-sentence order went along the lines of "sucks to be you, donald."

Trump's lawyers attempted to sway an intermediary appellate court pause the upcoming date suggesting it would be impossible to find an impartial jury.

"In terms of prejudicial pretrial publicity in this county, this case stands alone," wrote defense attorney Emil Bove, arguing there had not been a case with so much attention since the 1999 police killing of Amadou Diallo.

All things considered, it's trump's own fault he draws this much attention to himself. There are remote tribes in the Gobi Desert who've heard of him. There's no place to move a venue, so he might as well face a jury of fellow New Yawkers where he stands.

With regards to trump's attempt to sue Judge Merchan, there's more detail with Charles R Davis at Salon:

Trump, who is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a 2016 “hush” payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, has spent weeks now railing against Judge Juan M. Merchan. One ex-prosecutor likened his attacks on Merchan — and Merchan’s daughter — to the behavior of a “mob boss.”

That behavior led Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to seek a revised gag order barring such attacks on the judge’s family. Now, with the trial set to begin April 15, Trump is again trying to stall the case against him, this time with a legal filing that directly targets Judge Merchan.

According to the Times, the filing constitutes an “Article 78”  action, a proceeding that can be used to challenge decisions by state officials and judges in New York. While it remains under seal, the former president has claimed that the gag order against him violates his right to free speech...

There's been long debates about gag orders violating free speech rights, but if the Supreme Court precedence is viewed properly they're meant primarily to ensure the fair rights and safety of the defendants: There's nothing there about the defendant using speech to threaten the rights and safety of the judges, prosecutors, and juries. If defendants had the power to issue threats and insults towards judges in every other trial, we'd never see justice done.

trump, for all we know, intentionally went on the attack against Merchan - and the judge's daughter - precisely to trigger a gag order that trump could then use was denying his free speech. It's behavior that shouldn't be tolerated or allowed.

One way or another, trump is desperate to delay this criminal trial like he's delayed all the others.

Because he knows - despite all his claims of innocence, and despite all his bravado that he's happily being martyred (seriously, comparing himself to Mandela???) - the second a trial gets a jury empaneled, the second the witnesses start testifying under oath, the second every nasty little detail comes out that trump can't debunk where it matters (because he dare not go on the stand under oath) he becomes even more a political liability to GOP party leaders than he already is.

trump knows the second a jury comes back with even one Guilty verdict, his presidential campaign is doomed. While the legal experts are saying DA Bragg's case here is the weakest trump faces - due to Bragg using unconventional interpretations of records laws - there's still solid evidence against him, and the jury will be hearing from witnesses like Michael Cohen, who will point out he'd plead out to similar charges on the same hush money matter, implying trump should face his justice as well.

trump may claim that his followers will accept him even if he's found guilty - and there are a lot of them who will vote for a convicted trump - he has to know there's a solid faction of Republican (and No Party Affiliate) voters who will never vote for a convicted felon. There's already signs at least 20 percent of the existing GOP voting base won't accept trump under any circumstance, and he can't afford - even with all the plotting he's doing to disqualify the Electoral Count this 2024 - to lose that many across most of the states.

This is why trump is desperate to delay every criminal trial he's facing well past November.

This is why the courts shouldn't indulge him.

Let Justice be done. Bring trump to trial.