Donald Trump sat gloomily in court Tuesday, arms crossed over his chest, as his attorney pleaded not guilty to a 37-count federal indictment of espionage, conspiracy, obstruction and other charges. Hours later, at a gathering and then a candlelight dinner at his Bedminster, NJ, golf club for donors who paid $100,000 per person for the honor, Trump found his voice and proclaimed that he had every right to see the classified documents in question. retain.

The events of that day reflected the Janus-like political and legal strategy that Trump will pursue in the future. Outside the courtroom, he will beat the drums and collect money from what he portrays as a witch hunt; in court, his team will strive to delay a trial he cannot possibly win on merit.

Trump is involved in a bizarre and, for the country, very dangerous plot to delay the case until he can end it by winning the presidency in 2024. At that point, he could order the Justice Department to resign.

Note that Trump does not have to run the legal risk of pardoning himself at that point. Even if he is sentenced quickly, a prospect made significantly less likely by the assignment of Trump appointee Judge Aileen Cannon to the case, his conviction would almost certainly still be up for appeal in January 2025, leaving the department just may order the case to be dropped.

How can Trump, backed by Cannon, maximize the delay? Through a series of pre-trial motions, all of which are meritorious in varying degrees, but are nevertheless likely to take a long time.

We already have a good idea of ​​what those moves will look like. The first out of the box may well try to dismiss the charges on grounds of plaintiff’s misconduct.

It was that issue that Trump’s lawyers foolishly emphasized in their last-ditch effort to dissuade top Justice Department officials from filing the charges. And former Trump attorney Timothy Parlatore has suggested that would be the subject of the first motion Trump would file with Cannon.

His team’s allegations of misconduct are extremely vague and scattered. The most concrete appears to be a conversation between Justice Department attorney Jay Bratt and Stanley Woodward, who represents Walt Nauta, Trump’s valet and co-defendant in the case. Woodward has allegedly claimed that Bratt was referring to his pending application to become a judge, implying that his strong representation of Nauta could jeopardize his judicial candidacy.

It is a dubious accusation of facts. The Justice Department’s Criminal Division has nothing to do with appointing judges, and Bratt seems far too experienced and respected for such a bumbling attempt at intimidation.

More importantly, Trump’s strident claims of misconduct are unlikely to get out the door legally. Both the Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals have made it clear that allegations of prosecutorial misconduct are almost never sufficient grounds to dismiss such criminal charges. A defendant whose rights have been curtailed may have other remedies, but the courts have ruled that dismissing an indictment requires a defendant to show that the alleged misconduct materially influenced the grand jury’s decision to indict or that there was serious doubt exists on that point.

Countless defendants have bitterly complained of prosecutorial misconduct far more serious than anything Trump has vainly claimed.

Even with Judge Cannon calling, there’s really no prospect that Trump’s allegations could lead to the charges being dismissed. But he can and will still file the motion, and as hopeless as the prospects are, it could eat up a few months or more. In support of the motion, Trump’s lawyers will likely push for a hearing to impeach prosecutors or question grand jurors, which the administration would clearly oppose. And if Cannon is remotely as lenient to these dubious claims as he is to Trump’s even more far-fetched arguments against the order to search Mar-a-Lago, the issue could drag on for a while.

In the end, even Cannon can be expected to enforce the law that makes the motion clearly untenable, but not before Trump has had so many more opportunities to use his candidates’ megaphone to amplify his allegations of prosecutor misconduct in the public sphere . All this can only exacerbate the bitter polarization that is his lasting and ongoing legacy.

And that’s just one of the flimsy motions that can be expected from Trump’s team. We can also expect challenges regarding his former attorney Evan Corcorans’ notes, terms of use of classified documents, and more, making delays more likely.

It’s starting to look like justice has finally caught up with Trump, a prolific escape artist who’s been around for decades. But the tight situation he is in now is undoubtedly the most threatening of his career and has a way out. I still think the odds are in favor of the rule of law, but the confluence of a political triumph, a caring judge and immense luck can help him hold himself accountable.

Harry Litman is the host of the

Talking Feds podcast

.

@harrylitman