Trump in for 'rude awakening' when these cases 'hit him where it hurts': legal expert

Former President Donald Trump is getting hit in the pocketbook in a painful way that he never has been before, attorney and legal expert Katie Phang told MSNBC's Alex Witt on Friday evening — both in the new $83.3 million judgment for defamation of E. Jean Carroll, and more civil litigation still to come.

"This is money for defaming Ms. Carroll ... and the price tag here is extraordinary," said Witt. "But I wonder if you can talk a little bit about your expectations for how Donald Trump actually coughs up this money, and whether this is held in escrow, whether he seeks, alone given what happened in previous civil trials."

"Yeah, so, Alex, I like to say, don't sleep on the civil cases," said Phang. "People get very excited about the criminal cases. Because clearly, the idea of Donald Trump in jail is pretty titillating. However, don't sleep on the civil cases, because those are the ones that hit him where it hurts him the most. Donald Trump defiantly thinks that he is not going to have to serve a day in jail. And, as of right now, he has not. But when it comes to paying up, he has had to pony up at least $5.5 to $5.6 million."

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Nor is Trump's judgment in the Carroll case the end of things, Phang noted.

"January 31st is right along the corner. And that is a date that Justice Arthur Engoron, in the New York Attorney's civil fraud trial, is due to render his verdict on the remaining counts that have been brought by Letitia James," she continued. "So, if Donald Trump thought that this $83.3 million dollars today was a lot of money, he may be in for a rude awakening next week."

"To [former Solicitor General] Neal Katyal's point as well, there have been grand juries that have returned indictments," Phang added. "These have been people, these have been ordinary citizens that have been called to duty, that have been asked to serve in these capacities. They are the ones that have returned indictments. And now they are the ones that have returned these verdicts. And so these are the people, the ordinary citizens that are doing extraordinary work, that are telling Donald Trump, you are now being held accountable."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

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