Donald Trump just cut and ran
One of the quirks of a civil trial is that the same person can end up being listed as a witness for both sides. For instance in Donald Trump’s New York civil fraud trial, Attorney General Letitia James called Donald Trump as a witness for the prosecution last month so she could grill him. But Donald Trump also listed himself as a witness for the defense, so he could go in and spin whatever stories he wanted.
Trump was set to testify for the defense tomorrow. But he just announced on social media that he won’t be testifying after all. He’s giving the excuse that he’s already proven his innocence (yeah right). But this comes after media reports that Trump’s own attorneys were afraid of what he might end up saying on the stand. It sure sounds like they convinced him not to bother testifying.
In a civil trial, you can opt not to testify in your own defense, but it can be used against you. So Trump isn’t “getting away” with anything by not testifying. It’s closer to forfeiting. Of course Trump already lost this trial by summary judgment before it began. But his failure to testify in his own defense could result in even larger damages.
The real story here is that Donald Trump’s people are apparently so afraid of what he might say on the stand as he continues to slip further into senility, they convinced him not to even bother taking the stand. Trump’s cognitive failure is becoming that much of a liability for him.
