Impeachment lawyer issues a warning to Trump about 'serious penalties' for lying in court

Former impeachment lawyer Norm Eisen explained that Donald Trump should be careful about his testimony in court on Monday.

Trump is set to follow his two sons on the stand in the New York fraud trial that could mean the end of the Trump Organization. Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, is scheduled to testify after him.

Speaking to CNN's Jim Acosta on Sunday, Eisen noted that in the past, Trump has struggled with the truth, lying over 30,000 times while serving as president, according to the Washington Post's count.

"The consequences are very different than when he was doing that at the White House appearances that you covered, Jim," Eisen continued. "When you're under oath, there can be serious penalties, both in this civil case and ancillary penalties if lies are outrageous enough. You can be referred for prosecution. I think Trump, though, is going to attempt to walk a fine line. His sons did this, so we know the legal strategy. It has emerged in the case of blaming others, pointing the finger at others so he doesn't get himself pinned down on these outrageous gaps in valuations. We'll see what happens."

Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen, told MSNBC over the weekend that Eric Trump fell into an "obvious trap" during the fraud trial.

"You know, Don Junior and Eric lied under oath," Cohen said. "In fact, all they are doing is emulating their father, who was put on the stand by Judge Engoron in regard to statements that he made outside the courtroom about the judge's law clerk, claiming it was me."

"I mean, the guy lies the way that you breathe, and the kids are doing the same thing — how stupid do they have to be?" he exclaimed. "It is sad to say, how stupid do you have to be when you are Eric Trump, for example, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, and you claim all you really do is, you know, you pour concrete?"

Eisen said that he doesn't anticipate Trump pleading the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during the questioning because it wouldn't be any help to him. Judge Arthur Engoron could consider that as part of his ruling.

"He'll be flushing this case down the toilet if he says the word self-incrimination," said Eisen. "Unlike in a criminal case where you don't get to argue that to the jury. Judge Engoron, no fan of Donald Trump already, can draw an adverse inference if Donald Trump takes the Fifth. He can say, well, that settles it. I'm ruling against him. Trump and the company are playing for an appeal. They know they're going to lose in front of this judge. They don't want to mess it up with pleading the Fifth Amendment."

See the full interview in the video below or at the link here.

Trump better be careful in court on Mondayyoutu.be