Donald Trump announced he would not take the witness stand for a second time at his fraud trial in New York on Monday, the former US president’s last chance to make his case as he combats a potential $250m fine that hangs over his family business.
Trump had been expected to take the stand again as the hearings draw to a close. But on Sunday he announced on the Truth Social site that he would no longer be making an appearance.
“I HAVE ALREADY TESTIFIED TO EVERYTHING & HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY OTHER THAN THAT THIS IS A COMPLETE & TOTAL ELECTION INTERFERENCE (BIDEN CAMPAIGN!) WITCH HUNT, THAT WILL DO NOTHING BUT KEEP BUSINESSES OUT OF NEW YORK, I WILL NOT BE TESTIFYING ON MONDAY. MAGA!” he wrote, signing off with the abbreviation for his Make America great again slogan.
…
Because Trump was already found guilty of fraud in a September pre-trial ruling, the trial has been over whether Trump and his family knew they were inaccurately representing the value of their assets on financial documents. If found guilty of doing that, Trump will have to pay a fine that could be at least $250m. Trump would also lose his New York business licenses – which would make it impossible for him to run his real estate business in the state – if an appeals court upholds the pre-trial judgment.
Probably for the best. Last time he was on the stand the judge threatened to kick him off if he mentioned Biden or Democrats or Deep State any more because none of that has been entered into evidence and you can’t just say anything you want on the stand.
I don’t even understand why he did it when there were no cameras on him. He wasn’t even performing for his audience. I guess he really is that demented.
Because this isn’t an act. This really is who he is. He’s not showing off for the cameras, it’s not calculated to get attention. He is exactly one layer deep. This is it. This is who he is. An old, fat, spoiled child that has never been told “no” in any meaningful way and has been surrounded by yesmen and sycophants his entire life. He behaves like this around cameras, he behaves like this in a one on one meeting.
One of the freakiest things I ever saw was a Trump family photo. Donnie, Melania, and five [?] year old Baron. Besides the gold wallpaper, the thing that amazed me was that they had Baron wearign a little business suit and sitting in a toy limo. Because who wants their kid to dream of being a jet pilot or a space man? Make sure he’s programmed from Day One to be a clone.
Wasn’t Barron riding a fake lion and the toy limo was just that, a small toy limousine. The hot trash interior design is on another level. The portrait is talked about in snopes https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/family-photograph-of-melania-barron-and-donald-trump/
The most telling part about that “family portrait” was how distant everyone was from each other. Poor kid is on the other side of the room, ffs.
The fact that SO MANY still don’t realize this is truly baffling. The only explanation I can come up with is they are also adult children themselves, and thusly do not even know what maturity looks like.
One of the most depressing parts of getting older is seeing how many of your peers just stop mentally developing at some point – middle age people for which highschool never ended.
Most of his cult loves him because of this. They love that he’s mean, and a bully, and selfish. He acts like they want to but can’t. They’d have repercussions and consequences, he doesn’t. They get to see a guy behave like they dream about behaving and get away with it. They know exactly who he is, they aren’t being fooled, he’s not conning them. He’s a hero to them because he holds up to the ideals they truly believe in. They totally realize who and what he is. They worship him because of it, not in spite of it.
Don’t forget that he’s demented. And a sociopath.
Oh, and a fraud.
Ah, yes, and a rapist.
So very. Much best.
there may be a little slurping and grunting in some of his ‘one on one’ meetings.
Grab them by the MAGA.
I think the assumption that it will get out and be discussed is being proven right here, cameras or not his mouth is a megaphone
I guess, but not really at a significant level. Not compared to his press conferences outside the courtroom.
Every single time
May he be held in contempt and convicted of everything.
What are the odds he pays the money though? Seriously when has he ever fully paid a debt?
They’ll probably seize his assets, including Trump Tower which he could no longer operate.
I hope so. So far he’s gone about 99% unpunished for his many crimes though…
He just needs to do another $10,000 a plate hotdog dinner and he’ll make it back.
Who would support this coward?
About 70 million morons and assholes
I would, fortunately I can’t vote in your shit hole county
He didn’t win by getting the most votes the first time.
No surprise about him not testifying, though.
Last time he showed up he was really stuck on some disclaimer clause he thought would get him out of this whole thing.Not realizing they went over all that earlier in the part of the trial where you are supposed to present documents.
Will he change his mind if we put hamburders in the witness stand
With a large covfefe
Tell him that they will order him free McDonald’s after he testifies. He can’t resist McDonald’s and free.
Well he’s kind of an expert on election interference. Hopefully he’ll never get to apply his expertise again.
Yeah, that’s not a side business I want to see getting established (it’s already too much of a thing as it is)
He’ll do what he’s fucking told to do.
Actually, no, he never does that. This may be the first time he’s done what anyone else told him to do since his father died. I think it shows how fucked he is.
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He does what Russia wants him to, but they are smart enough to get him to do what they want without telling him to do it.
Nah, I think they straight up own him (as easy as he is to manipulate).
He can’t be compelled to testify against himself in general. The extent to which that can be held against him in court varies from not at all in criminal cases to somewhat in civil cases.
The point of announcing this last minute was legal strategy - the prosecution’s team would have spent a long time preparing to cross-examine Trump. All that time is now wasted. That was the point. He probably never intended to actually testify.
This is a civil case, not a criminal one. His 5th amendment protections are much weaker. If he says that his testimony may support criminal charges, then he is allowed to take the 5th. However, in a civil trial, the fact finder is allowed to draw a negative inference from that.
Having said that, none if this is relevent. He already testified during the State’s case, which is the only time he would need to invoke privilege. Since this is the defense case, they get to simply not call him.
Unless one of his co-defendants subpoenaed him, which is also not the case.
This is only news because the media was previously dumb enough to report on something he said previously. (Which, naturally was the opposite of the truth).
Not dumb. Crooked. Corrupt. Unethical.
Eh, I don’t know. There’s definitely some of that. I think most outlets just still don’t have a good playbook for a major public figure who only says things that are wrong or not followed through to this degree. And ideally they shouldn’t need a play for something like that.
Basically every thing the man says should be ignored because it’s always meaningless.
lmao
… but he will be happily of assistance to his followers if they need to find the way to the court with their pitchforks and torches.
What’s the point in testifying in a kangaroo court? Where the judge is CLEARLY not interested in a fair trial?
It’s all going to get thrown out anyway.
Yeah, much easier to control the narrative for your base from Truth Social than from the stand, where you actually have some obligation to tell the truth.
“The truth shall set you free” …unless you’re a criminal.
LOL
He keeps appealing “unfair” rulings and they keep getting upheld by other courts. Cry more.
*sigh* He broke the law. Do you actually have evidence that this judge is not being *unfair to Trump, or are you just upset he’s actually being held accountable for once?
EDIT: Of course they don’t.
