Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday cited unfavorable rulings and the prosecution’s lack of a case as the reasons he declined to testify in his New York criminal trial.
“Because he made rulings that makes it very difficult to testify,” President Trump said in answer to a question. “Anything I did, anything I did in the past, they could bring everything up, and you know what? I’ve had a great past—but anything!”
Justice Merchan allowed prosecutors to ask questions about other cases involving President Trump, including a civil case involving writer E. Jean Carroll.
He also allowed controversial testimony by key witness Stephanie Clifford, also known as adult entertainment performer Stormy Daniels, who provided salacious details about an alleged sexual encounter with the former president that prompted defense lawyers to seek a mistrial. The judge denied the mistrial motion but agreed that “it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid.”
The judge also permitted the introduction of a claim by former model Karen McDougal, who is alleged to have been paid to keep quiet about an affair with President Trump roughly a decade before he was elected president. President Trump has denied the claim.
President Trump earlier in the month accused Justice Merchan of “doing everything in his power to make this trial as salacious as possible, even though these things have NOTHING to do with this FAKE case.”
The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors argue that the falsification was done to conceal another crime, which upgrades the misdemeanors to felonies. His criminal trial is the first ever against a former U.S. president.
Prosecutors ‘Have No Case’
The other reason President Trump cited as contributing to his decision not to testify was that the prosecution “have no case.”“New York is out of control ... I’m not getting a fair shake legally, that I can tell you,” he said.
He criticized his New York-based court cases as “rigged” and pointed to his legal team’s successfully overturning five decisions by Judge Arthur Engoron in a separate civil case as evidence.
“In other words ... why testify when they have no case? They finished. They have no crime. There is no crime ... So when you say, ‘Why not testify?’ They have no case other than it’s a corrupt system,” President Trump added.
The prosecution rested its case on Monday, followed by the defense on Tuesday, bringing the trial to its final phase.
The prosecution argued that “unlawful” actions do not need to be “criminal” to prove a conspiracy and that proof of intent was not required. They argued that an election law violation occurs when two or more people conspire to promote someone’s election to office “by unlawful means.”
“Unlawful means doesn’t mean criminal, it means a violation of law,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said.
Conversely, President Trump’s lawyers argued that the prosecution needed to prove a clear “intent to defraud” or commit a criminal conspiracy, arguing that none of his actions violated the law.
Justice Merchan reserved rulings for many of the issues raised. These rulings will determine whether the case reaches the jury and shape how jurors interpret it if it does.
It is expected that the jury will commence their deliberations on the case next week.
