Trump said he plans to testify in the New York trial, calling jury selection “largely a matter of luck.”
Former president Donald Trump said Friday that he “absolutely” plans to take the stand at his upcoming trial in New York, where he now faces 34 counts of falsifying business records related to the payment “silent money” of $130,000 for a former adult film star. Daniels storms before his 2016 election.
“I am testifying. I tell the truth,” Trump said in response to a reporter’s question during a news conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate. “I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is no such case. They don’t have any cases.”
Echoing lines he used about his complex criminal cases throughout the campaign season, Trump called his prosecution a “scam” and a “witch hunt” and declared it a Evidence shows that America has become a “third world country”.
The trial is expected to last six weeks and Trump will be required to appear in court every day of the session, usually on weekdays except Wednesdays.
Of course, like any promise Trump makes, his testimony under oath must be taken with a grain of salt, as he has a history of making and then reneging on similar promises. During his New York civil trial for business fraud, Trump suddenly decided not to take witnesses just one day before he was supposed to. The former president was ultimately fined $354 million in that case.
The source familiar with Trump’s thinking said New York Times that the former president may wait to decide whether to testify until he knows whether the Manhattan District Attorney will Alvin Bragg presents a compelling case. Another important factor is whether prosecutors’ cross-examination efforts are constrained by the judge overseeing the case.
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, who coordinated Daniels’ payments and will likely be a central witness in the trial, told NBC on Saturday that he felt the likelihood of Trump actually testifying was low. “The odds of Donald Trump standing in the stands are equal to the odds of me waking up tomorrow and being 7-foot-6 and playing center for the New York Knicks,” Cohen said. “It won’t happen.”
Trump’s Friday comments came as Juan the merchant, the New York County Supreme Court Justice presiding over the case, denied another request from the former president to delay the trial’s start date. The ruling was at least the fourth case last week in which an effort by Trump’s legal team to delay the trial failed.
The case is proceeding as planned and jury selection is expected to begin Monday. In his speech Friday, Trump said jury selection in the case was “largely a matter of luck,” adding: “It depends on who you pick.”
