Gail Collins: So Bret, Donald Trump gets a roughly $355 million fine for fibbing about his fortune. Too much? Too little? Am I wrong for starting to chortle?
Bret Stephens: Gail, I would never want to stop you from chortling, but here goes: I think the case was ridiculous and the verdict outrageous. And dumb. It lends credence to the Trumpian belief that the justice system is rigged, which will help him politically.
Gail: OK, chortles desist. But this is the trial where we learned that the 30,000-square-foot Trump Tower triplex its owner listed as an asset was actually about a third that size. That’s a nice example of his biographical … oversell.
Bret: “Biographical oversell.” I’m stealing that.
Gail: I know you’re worried all this will make him look like a martyr to a whole lot of voters. But I can’t help thinking a string of 91 pending felony counts has to also look pretty darned messy.
Bret: Most of those cases will convince only those who are already convinced that Trump must be stopped at all costs. Many others, including anti-Trumpers like me, will wonder whether at least two of these cases — brought by progressive D.A.’s who had promised to go after Trump before they had found a crime to charge him for — would have been brought against any other defendant.
Gail: Bret, you take the fun out of opinion.
Bret: Look, I realize Trump lies about most everything, probably owing to feelings of inadequacy about his … apartment size. And I get that an arcane New York legal statute allows this kind of case to go forward. That said, you have Trump being accused of fraud without any of his creditors complaining of being defrauded, making the case ripe for being overturned on appeal, or at least the amount he has been fined reduced. The result will not only help Trump, it might inspire right-wing state attorneys general or local D.A.s to return the favor in spades to Democratic candidates they don’t like.
