Former President Donald Trump has indicated that he plans to testify in his defamation trial, but there are doubts about whether he will follow through.
Legal experts have warned that testifying would be risky, especially given the judge’s reputation and Trump’s previous courtroom behavior.
It is unclear whether Trump will actually testify, with some observers suggesting that he may be bluffing due to the limited scope of permissible testimony in the trial.
“Even if you had the most pro-Trump judge in America overseeing the trial, Donald Trump should not testify. Multiply that by a million with Lewis Kaplan on the bench,” defense lawyer Robert Katzberg said.
“Given both his lack of any relevant facts as to the only issue remaining — the damages suffered by Ms. Carroll — and Donald Trump’s inability to control himself emotionally, he is begging not only to be debased before the jury, but contempt citations will be looming large.”
Trump “didn’t have the temerity to actually testify” in Carroll’s first case, “and the jury made a determination based on clear and convincing evidence that he had done this conduct,” New York University Law Professor Andrew Weissmann said.
There are concerns about the potential disruption his presence could cause, but many remain skeptical that he will appear in court.
“We have to prepare that he is going to come, if for no other reason than the sheer logistics of how disruptive his presence in any courthouse or courtroom has been. However, my expectation is that, like he has before, he’s bluffing, that he will not come to testify tomorrow,” legal analyst Lisa Rubin said.
“That is in part because there’s a very limited range of issues about which he could permissibly testify,” she said.
“This trial is just about damages, it’s not about whether he sexually assaulted her, it’s not about whether he defamed her or even continues to defame her with each passing day of the campaign. So, ultimately, I predict he won’t come and, indeed, our folks in New Hampshire have not seen any indication that he’s preparing to testify by taking the time for witness prep.”
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