Agreed with all of this.
It was supposed to appear at that point that Lex had lost control and that his ranting had sunk him. Lex himself was surprised to learn that wasn’t the case when the jury ultimately acquitted him. I agree the writing didn’t exactly make that crystal clear, however. Cryer gave it his all, but the trial stuff in general was the weakest part of the episode.
That was his Donald Trump moment I think. The jurors were right though, there was no proof.