Will Donald Trump testify at his New York City at the Hush Trump bookkeeping trial? Testimony is underway in the trial of former President Trump, who is charged with a bookkeeping issue of misreporting payments in 2017 as legal fees instead of campaign expenses. His overarching crime, by the Manhattan district attorney's lights, is a federal election crime, which boils down to Trump stealing the 2016 election. Hillary Clinton won New York in 2016 by a nearly two-to-one margin, so clearly this trial is on the up-and-up.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg dredged up this trial from the dead after federal elections officials and the previous DA as well as Bragg himself declined to bring this case years before. But after Biden's DOJ parachuted in a Trump specialist attack dog to go after the former president, the Democrats decided to throw everything against the wall to prevent him from being reelected. Former Trump Attorney General Bill Barr, who can't stand the former president, calls this case an "abomination... obviously political ...and a real threat to liberty." Better late than never, Bill. He'll be out with his 2020 observations by, hmmm, let's say next year.
The witness list is out, and the first person to take the stand in this non-televised drama will be the former publisher of the National Enquirer, who paid porn performer Stormy Daniels money for exclusive rights to her story and then killed it. That's not a crime, but it will dovetail nicely with the prosecution's index horribilis that they will use as distractive chaff from this "abomination."
Related: The Man Sent to 'Get Trump'
The Enquirer paid Daniels $150,000 while Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, who will also testify, paid her $130,000. Trump personally paid Cohen for his legal activities by more than doubling the amount and giving him a $60K spiff for his legal services. This is the "crime" for which Trump is dragged through the courts. Since it has been, as the lawyers like to say, "bootstrapped" to an unspecified federal elections crime (which the feds said wasn't a federal elections crime) it has suddenly gone from a civil case to a criminal case.
Robert Costello, Cohen's former attorney, will testify for the defense, according to the witness list. Trump is not on the witness list, but a defendant can always decide if he wants to testify during the trial.
Trump has told the world he will testify. "I don’t know, I’m testifying. I tell the truth. I mean, all I can do is tell the truth," he said recently. "And the truth is," he continued, "that there’s no case, they have no case."
Last week he answered "yes" when a reporter yelled the question as he entered the Manhattan courthouse.
Reporter: Are you going to testify?
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 19, 2024
Trump: Yes pic.twitter.com/0PG1Ulp0Ec
One of Trump's appellate attorneys, Will Scharf, told CNN recently that he thinks if he decided to testify Trump would do well. "If the jury decides based on the facts and the law, there's no way President Trump can be convicted," he said. Scharf says Trump "would be a compelling witness" if he chooses to testify.
Trump attorney Will Scharf says Trump "would be a compelling witness" if he chooses to testify:
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) April 16, 2024
"If the jury decides based on the facts and the law, there's no way President Trump can be convicted." pic.twitter.com/stMpN0jRZK
In the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial, Trump testified for less than four minutes.
One can imagine the cross-examination of Trump by prosecutors using the list of bad acts that have nothing to do with his case, getting him flustered and angry and showing the jury what a bad guy he is. Trump can be cool and calm, but they'll do everything they can to rattle him on the stand, obviously.
The media have called this case a "hush money" case, but one of our crafty commenters called it the Hush Trump case. Touche'. When a judge shuts up the defendant but not the other trial participants you can't help but wonder if the fix is in. Where else will you read that in this censorious media world that we're living in?
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