Trump says he won’t return to witness stand in $250m New York fraud trial
Trump says he won’t return to witness stand in $250m New York fraud trial
Former president, who was expected to take the stand, announced on Truth Social on Sunday that he already testified to everything
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.
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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.
Brave brave Donny ran away
You're to quiet...you gotta all caps that shit..follow his lead. .
BRAVE BRAVE DONNY RAN AWAY!
trump: I didn’t! Never! (Continues running away)
When danger rears it's ugly head, he bravely turned his tail and fled!
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.
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
Tell him that they will order him free McDonald's after he testifies. He can't resist McDonald's and free.
With a large covfefe
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)
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.
He’ll do what he’s fucking told to do.
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.
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 fair to Trump, or are you just upset he's actually being held accountable for once?