Trump putting himself at new risk from Judge Engoron if he testifies again: expert
December 10, 2023
According to former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman, Donald Trump is putting himself at unnecessary risk if he chooses to testify on Monday in his defense in Judge Arthur Engoron's courtroom.
Speaking with MSNBC host Alex Witt on Sunday afternoon, Litman pointed out that the former president has already lost the $250 million financial fraud case based on an earlier ruling from the judge and the continuing deliberations will be used to arrive at the financial penalties Trump and the Trump Organization will be liable for.
Litman suggested that the former president likely relishes the idea of boasting about his real estate empire and it's worth, but, by taking the stand, he is opening himself up to cross-examination by prosecutors which has the potential to go off the rails.
As he noted, the former president will be pressed by prosecutors to explain away the over-evaluation of his properties and won't have the option of refusing to answer.
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'He might not take the stand because there is little for him to gain," Litman predicted, "Remember, this is a judge trial, the judge is going to decide against him and he will, as his son did, give the sort of rosey infomercial for the public. That would be the reason he would testify."
"But, it means he will have to face cross-examination and it won't be like last time when the AG on direct, let him just go on and on," he continued. "They call cross-examination the greatest legal tool ever invented for the discovery of truth, and they can ask, and they are ready to ask very pointed questions. 'Mr. Trump, you knew this wasn't 30,000 feet. You knew it was ten. Yes or no?' Boom, boom, boom. And the judge will enforce that, right? So he [Trump] doesn't stand much to gain on his direct testimony, and does stand to lose on the cross so we'll see what happens."
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