Drew Findling, a Georgia-based criminal defense attorney representing former President Donald Trump, made a rare television appearance on MSNBC on Tuesday.
In short, it didn’t go well for Findling. But it went just as expected (assuming you’ve been reading The ReidOut Blog).
I’ll explain.
Findling appeared on “The Beat with Ari Melber” on Tuesday to discuss the criminal probe into Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn Georgia’s results in the 2020 presidential election. Findling recently filed a motion arguing that any result of the impaneled grand jury should be tossed out and that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be prohibited from bringing charges in the case.
As Ari noted, this motion seems odd because, as of now, there is no official case against Trump in Georgia. (But hit dogs gon’ holler.)
The basis of Findling’s argument is that Willis’ office is notorious for corrupt and even discriminatory behavior, and Trump (who, again, has not been charged in the case) is a victim of it. It’s a strategy I warned readers to anticipate from Findling.
In that January post, I explained Findling’s history of representing Atlanta-based rappers — particularly, in criminal cases involving Georgia’s racketeering law, which ultimately could be used to prosecute Trump. I noted Findling’s previous allegations that the Fulton County DA’s office is “racist” for its use of the so-called RICO law against Black men, and how Findling would likely claim that the Trump probe also stems from unfair treatment.
This was precisely the spin Findling tried to use Tuesday. Here’s the part where he conflates Trump’s predicament with Fulton County’s “caging these young men of color for years, waiting to go to trial.”
In other words, Findling is saying: “Ari, you know me! You know I’m down with the brothas. Just trust me on this.”
(Note the look of satisfaction on his face after making this argument, around the 9:05 mark.)
As a self-identifying brotha, I’m not buying it. To be clear: Findling isn’t the first person to launder Black criticism of the criminal justice system in service of a right-wing white dude. That’s basically the Republican Party’s modus operandi these days.
But it’s the utter cynicism for me here.
You can hear Findling trying to leverage his presumed credibility as a defender of some Black people to defend someone who, as president, aligned himself with the same biased criminal justice system that Findling claims is now attacking Trump.
It’s going to be a tough sell.
Trump — the “I think innocent Black kids should have been executed for crimes they didn’t commit” guy — is now, through his lawyers, arguing the justice system is unfair to him. Hilarious.