At the end of a tense court day in a criminal trial in Manhattan, former President Donald J. Trump sent an email to his supporters Thursday with the dramatic subject line, “I stormed out of the courtroom!” Ta.
The reality was much quieter.
At the end of the day, as is common with many criminal defendants, Mr. Trump quietly left the courtroom. He strode toward reporters and cameras set up in the hallway and issued a one-minute statement attacking the case, the judge and the proceedings. Then he left the building and went home.
Still, in a message to his supporters, Mr. Trump painted himself as a firebrand who fled the proceedings, angered by the perceived injustice. “Election interference is over,” he wrote. “Joe Biden and the media liars continue to spread lies and lies while I am stuck and gagged in court!”
Such exaggerated depictions have become typical of Trump and his presidential campaign in the weeks since the start of his trial in which he is accused of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments to a former porn star. It became a thing.
Trump is on trial in New York for the first criminal trial against a former president, but Trump and his campaign have sent emails and text messages that highly dramatize and explain Trump's actions in court. Sent in bulk to supporters. It's much more mundane than he describes.
Trump campaign emails often contain kernels of truth. For example, the former president is under a gag order that prohibits him from attacking witnesses or jurors.
But the messages often omit details and nuance to support Trump's broad claims that his trial was a politically motivated “witch hunt.” Despite claiming he was forced into silence, the gag order has not prevented Trump from sharing his understanding of the incident.
And in his fundraising emails, he frequently claims that his charges are part of a large-scale “election interference” effort orchestrated by President Biden, a baseless claim lacking evidence. The New York case is being overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, who operates outside the jurisdiction of the Justice Department.
Trump campaign spokeswoman Caroline Leavitt defended the fundraising email, saying, “We support President Trump as we see him being politically persecuted by Joe Biden and corrupt Democrats under this pretense. Every day, more and more Americans are getting involved, a little bit more every day.” Show the trial. ”
Trump's campaign says he is so upset by the case against him, the actions of prosecutors, and the ruling by Judge Juan M. Marchan that he has struggled to keep himself from jumping out of his seat on a daily basis. It's finally here. I conclude.
But the kind of abuse he describes goes against expected decorum. Trump's demeanor has been relatively restrained during the trial, even if he has appeared irritated at times by his testimony.
Mr. Trump occasionally meets with his lawyers and has made comments that were enough to earn him a warning from Judge Marchan. However, he usually remained still and quiet, even appearing to nod or close his eyes.
At least five fundraising messages allege that Trump has “intruded” inside and outside the courtroom. Reporters covering the trial said his movements were more restrained than before.
Trump has sent at least six emails to his supporters warning of an impending “emergency press conference.” In one message this month, he explained, “I am bypassing the lying and fake news media and delivering my message directly to the people.”
But these “emergency” press conferences refer to remarks Trump has habitually made as he enters the courtroom in the morning and leaves the courtroom in the afternoon. His comments are little different from what he said in interviews during his campaign. They are then presented to reporters in front of cameras set up outside the courtroom during the trial.
Still, such exaggeration is consistent with the larger strategy Trump and his team have undertaken in the face of the unprecedented reality that major presidential candidates are competing in four separate criminal cases. .
Republican digital strategist Eric Wilson said the Trump campaign's emails about the trial reflected a need to counter the constant stream of headlines about the former president's legal troubles.
“Most campaigns try to put themselves in the news. The Trump campaign is kind of unique in the news,” Wilson said. “So they make lemonade from lemons in different ways.”
Central to that effort was dramatizing specific events, he said. Wilson said the campaign's message “is not a courtroom stenographer. It's not a New York Times report on what's happening in a courtroom.”
For more than a year, the Trump team has sought to use the investigation into Trump to boost political support among conservatives.
After Trump was indicted in Manhattan last spring, polls showed support for him soaring among Republicans. The former president has frequently claimed that his popularity only increased with each indictment. And his campaign reported that after his fourth indictment in Georgia, authorities raised millions of dollars in solicitations using mugshots taken on the ground.
A Trump campaign official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss data that has not yet been made public, said the campaign was collecting about $1 million a day during the Manhattan trial. Those numbers cannot be independently verified until campaign finance reports are filed weeks after the trial concludes.
Trump's emails during the Manhattan trial hardly dispute the facts of the case or the details of his day in court. However, his camp is actively calling for fundraising efforts centered around the gag order related to this incident.
Last month, before a hearing on whether he had breached a gag order, he wrote what he had told supporters as a “farewell message” and claimed that “if things don't get my way, I could end up in jail.” did. But at the time, prosecutors had only asked the judge to fine Trump $1,000 for each violation.
Judge Marchand ultimately found Trump in contempt of court and fined him $9,000 for nine violations of the gag order. And last week, Trump was again held in contempt of court for another violation, warning Trump that he could face prison time if he continues to violate his orders.
The judge made it clear that he considered the penalty to be a last resort. “The last thing I want to do is put you in jail,” Judge Marchand told Trump.
Hours later, the Trump campaign sent out an “urgent” fundraising bulletin. Subject: “They want to handcuff me.”
Kate Christbeck Contributed to the report.