Questions are swirling about whether former President Trump will take the stand in his historic hush money criminal trial as the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office ends its lead on the case this week.
The former president’s lawyers don’t seem to have any answers, including whether Trump plans to take a stand.
Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s lawyers, said as of Thursday that he expected Trump’s team to reach a decision at some point.
“This is another decision we need to think through,” Blanche told the judge.
The trial is moving quickly towards its final stages as the defense has not promised to call any witnesses, and the jury could begin deliberating as early as next week.
Criminal defendants like Trump do not have to represent themselves. The government has the burden of proving their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
But with a felony conviction and a potential prison sentence, the decisions Trump makes could have far-reaching implications, including whether he takes a stand. And Mr. Trump is known for wanting to speak for himself rather than leaving it to others.
Prosecutors say Trump made 34 falsified business records related to repayments to then-fixer Michael Cohen, who paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay days before the 2016 election. He called 20 witnesses to convince the jury that he was guilty of the crime. She has remained silent about allegations of an affair with Trump, which Trump denies.
Trump has maintained his innocence, insisted the records are true and distanced himself from the alleged plot.
Mr. Cohen, the prosecution’s star and final witness, is expected to finish testifying on Monday, after which Mr. Trump’s lawyers will either take up the former president’s defense or not.
Even if witnesses are called, the case is expected to be short-lived, potentially speeding the trial toward a conclusion next week.
The most important question remaining is whether Mr. Trump himself will take a stand.
Trump, who expressed regret for not doing so in a civil case he lost about a year ago, has taken the stand in two recent civil trials.
During the early stages of the criminal trial, the former president insisted that he would go to trial again in the ongoing hush money case. But in recent days, he has not responded to reporters’ barrage of questions about whether he intends to do so. And his lawyers have repeatedly told the judge that no decision has been made yet.
“And is there any indication whether your client will testify?” Judge Juan Melchan asked Tuesday.
Mr. Trump’s lawyer, Mr. Branch, said, “No.”
It is unusual for criminal defendants to take the stand in their own defense, and legal experts generally agree that this strategy is risky.
When Trump testified in his civil fraud trial last year, he repeatedly used political rhetoric to draw warnings from the judge.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw Trump’s civil fraud trial, said: “Overall, Donald Trump answered few questions and frequently interjected long, unrelated speeches on issues far beyond the scope of the trial. ” he said in the February ruling. “His credibility was seriously undermined as he refused to answer questions directly, or in some cases, did not answer them at all.”
Marchan, who is overseeing Trump’s criminal trial, said Trump’s hush money prosecutors, who can’t force the former president to testify, will cross-examine him about “egregious conduct” stemming from a number of Trump’s recent civil cases. The court ruled that it is possible.
Defense attorneys have suggested that there are only a few other potential Supreme Court witnesses besides Trump, including experts who would testify primarily about campaign finance law. There is.
The defense has not made a final decision on whether to call former Federal Election Commission (FEC) Commissioner Bradley Smith.
Before trial, the judge granted the prosecution’s request to limit the scope of testimony, and the defense asked the judge for further rulings to inform them of their decision before appearing in court later that week.
Smith’s testimony refutes prosecutors’ broader theory of the case that Trump tried to influence the 2016 presidential election through allies’ efforts to stamp out bad press about the then-candidate. It turns out. This theory is crucial to whether a jury convicts Trump, and New Yorkers believe that in order to convict the former president of the felony charge of business fraud he faces, the former president must have committed another crime. It is necessary to determine that the person was acting in a manner that encouraged this.
Prosecutors have indicated that if they call Smith, they will call in their response expert, Adab Noti, a former FEC deputy general counsel who now works at the Election Legal Center.
But if the defense does not call experts or Mr. Trump, indications are that they may briefly call several other witnesses but may be rested by the end of Monday.
“I don’t want to make any promises about Monday, but it’s certainly reasonable to think that the witnesses, other than Mr. Smith, will be able to get on and off on Monday,” Blanche told the judge. last week.
That would allow the trial to end quickly and the case to be handed over to a jury before leaving for Memorial Day weekend. But it’s going to be a short week. Due to a conflicted jury, the trial will not be held on Wednesday or Friday.
President Trump’s fate will then be in the hands of a jury of 12 New Yorkers who will decide whether to make him the first president in the country’s history to be convicted of a crime.
Updated at 7:50 a.m. EDT
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