Trump hates me personally. Now he’s taking it to the Supreme Court
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When I tell people that Donald Trump hates me, they often assume I mean it in a generic sense — that he hates Democrats and people who fight him in court. No, I correct them: he hates me personally.
On Friday, he took that hatred to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 2022, Trump sued me, along with Hillary Clinton and several others, for racketeering. A federal judge dismissed the case and sanctioned Trump and his lawyers, ultimately ordering Trump and his lead attorney to pay nearly $1 million.
On appeal, a unanimous panel of the conservative 11th Circuit, including a judge appointed by Trump, upheld both the dismissal and the sanctions.
Now Trump wants the Supreme Court to revive his suit and throw out the sanctions.
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His lawyers argue that he deserves extra time to sue because he set the case aside while serving as president. They also claim the Court must step in to protect the presidency from judges who punish its lawyers.
That is nonsense.
Trump filed this suit as a private citizen, between his two terms. The 11th Circuit found his claims not only too late but “otherwise meritless,” and it agreed that many of the legal arguments he and his lawyer made were frivolous.
I became a defendant in this lawsuit because, in 2016, I represented Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.
When Russia hacked the Democratic Party and the campaign, my role as general counsel required me to understand what happened. That required assessing Russia’s interest in interfering in the campaign, weighing legal options and risks.
At a news conference in July 2016, Trump said: “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.”
On that point, Trump was right.
The legacy media basked in every email leak. The fact that they were the product of a foreign government’s effort to swing the election did not matter to them or their corporate bosses.
“But her emails” became shorthand for that coverage, and the legacy media has never reckoned with it.
That failure, like its coverage of the Iraq War in 2003, is part of the reason Democrats’ confidence in the legacy media has eroded. I believe it is also why independent outlets like Democracy Docket have grown while the legacy media struggles.
Once he became president, Trump waged a multi-year war against me and others who worked for the Clinton campaign. During his first term, his supporters spread lies and misinformation. Ultimately, his Department of Justice appointed a special counsel to pursue us.
The experience left me with a keen understanding of how Trump can turn his army of supporters against someone while casting himself as the victim.
Anyone who thinks weaponization started in Trump’s second term has forgotten John Durham’s appointment and the partisan witch hunt that followed.
After three and a half years of nonstop investigation, Durham charged just three people. One was an FBI lawyer with no connection to the campaign. He pleaded guilty to altering an email and was sentenced to probation.
The other two were charged with lying to the FBI, went to trial and were quickly acquitted. One of them was a former law partner of mine.
Durham clearly hoped to dig up dirt on me, but in the end, he failed. I was never charged.
The experience left me with a keen understanding of how Trump can turn his army of supporters against someone while casting himself as the victim.
In the years that followed, Trump found new reasons to despise me. In 2018, during Florida’s Senate recount, he called me the Democrats’ “best Election stealing lawyer.”
After the 2020 election, I helped lead the legal effort that defeated him and his allies in court more than 60 times. Yet once again, he managed to paint himself as the victim.
In the years since, Trump and I have fallen into a familiar pattern. He attacks me and sics his MAGA allies on me. I beat them in court.
Since retaking the Oval Office, Trump has not let up. He targeted me in a speech at the Department of Justice. He also named me in a presidential memorandum and an executive order aimed at my former law firm. His legions of supporters spread lies and make threats.
But I refuse to cower. Unlike too many big law firms, I did not back down or cut a deal when Trump came after me. I stood tall and fought back.
Now Trump is back before the Supreme Court, trying to salvage a case he never should have brought. I don’t expect the justices to agree to hear it. For this lawsuit, it is the end of the road.
But Trump never gives up, and he has shown he is willing to weaponize the government against his political enemies. I am one of them, and I will always be on his list.
I worry about what that may mean for the future. I would be insane not to.
But I wear his scorn like a badge of honor, because I know where it comes from.
He hates that I won’t be intimidated. He hates that I speak out without fear. Most of all, he hates that I win.
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