It remains to be seen whether former President Donald Trump will tell jurors his side of the sordid hush-money scheme currently underway in a New York criminal trial.
But now we know it’s possible.
of BetOnline oddsmakersThey set the line for who will or won’t appear in court to support Trump, but when I looked into it, I found there was a 96.2% chance he would give up testifying.
Perhaps that’s best for Trump. For weeks, he has been in court hearing humiliating accounts of how he allegedly desperately pressured adult film actresses to silence them in the weeks before the 2016 election. He is accused of illegally influencing her election to keep her quiet about their brief affair 10 years ago.
Mr. Trump’s long and complicated legal history has shown him to be his own worst enemy when questioned under oath in depositions and trials.
Lawyers know it’s best for Trump not to testify.
Mr. Trump lacks self-control in the best of circumstances. He has no chance of helping himself by testifying now while he goes back and forth dozing off and on in court. boiling over.
I spoke with two Philadelphia-area attorneys who have represented Mr. Trump in the past. Both believed Trump should leave the stands.
Mr. Trump’s agent William J. Brennan Being impeached for the second time and between then Civil fraud business case in New Yorkpredicted the former president would not testify.
“I always hope my client doesn’t have to testify,” Brennan said. He has a great last name, but it has nothing to do with me. He said: “You have to weigh the benefit of what you’re trying to elicit against the harm of what comes out on cross-examination.”
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Brennan called Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer who negotiated and paid hush money and is now the prosecution’s star witness, a “highly tainted source.” He said he was thinking about it. He thinks that’s a good thing for Trump. Cohen will return to the stand Thursday and could be the final witness in the trial.
Cases against Trump so far mean he doesn’t have to testify
Brennan and Bruce Castor, who also represent Trump. second impeachment, expressed concern to me about the jury being selected only from Manhattan. Brennan wanted the pool to include police officers from Long Island and firefighters from the Bronx.
Castor said the evidence against Trump so far is “disastrous and does not contain enough evidence to convict him.” From a legal standpoint, Mr. Trump should not testify, Mr. Castor told me.
But Mr. Castor also makes a case for letting Mr. Trump be Mr. Trump.
“From a political point of view? Absolutely he should testify. Even though there is no legal justification for a conviction, local prejudice is so prevalent that he could lose.” Because it’s expensive,” Castor said. “Voters have a right to know about the ridiculous nature of the prosecution, so he might as well let the world know what’s going on.”
President Trump keeps changing his mind
Since the trial began on April 15, President Trump has been unsure whether to testify. He said last month that he intended to take the stand, and he repeated that fact outside court after the trial began.
But President Trump, who is under a gag order thanks to a vicious attack on a witness in his trial, falsely claimed that the order meant He was “not allowed to testify.”
That’s nonsense. Judge Juan Melchán informed Trump of this and quickly clarified in court that the gag order would not prevent Trump from testifying.
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This is typical Trump. He claims to be America’s Strongest Man, but he just happens to be the tragic victim of all the ramifications of his actions. I think after he gives a tough talk about how eager he was to be on the witness stand, he’s coming up with an excuse not to testify.
Trump must know that if he were to testify and prosecutors cross-examine him, political and legal disaster awaits him.
Trump hasn’t had the best performance on the witness stand.
playing cards He was criticized from the witness stand in November. During the civil fraud trial, he attacked the judge and the case, treating the whole thing like some kind of limited political rally. Was it helpful?of The result was a $454 million judgment. This suggests that this was not the case.
who was trump Found responsible for sexual assault last year During a deposition for author E. Jeanne Carroll’s defamation claim, he attempted to verbally abuse her attorney.President Trump belittled Carroll, calling her “not my type,” but then… I mistook her for my second wife.Marla Maples is shown a photo of Carol.
what happened to him? The two resulting verdicts are: Total $88.3 million It will tell you what you need to know.
President Trump sued author Tim O’Brien in 2006 for daring to suggest that the former president had a habit of exaggerating his wealth.that led to a deposition There, Mr. Trump had to repeatedly walk back claims he had made about his wealth. He also acknowledged that his own claims about net worth relied as much on “my own feelings” as on financial records at the time.
That case against O’Brien was dismissed. Trump appealed, but lost again.
It would be noteworthy if Trump kept his promise to testify. But that’s a risk he can’t afford. That is why he remains silent in court and tries to claim that he was somehow silenced elsewhere. Trump believes there is little risk in lying about this kind of thing unless he is under oath.
Follow USA TODAY election columnist Chris Brennan on X (formerly known as Twitter): @ChrisBrennan
