In a reversal, Donald Trump says he will not testify in his own defense in New York fraud trial
Source: NBC News
Dec. 10, 2023, 3:38 PM EST / Updated Dec. 10, 2023, 5:53 PM EST
In an eleventh-hour reversal, former President Donald Trump announced Sunday he will not go back on the witness stand in the $250 million civil fraud trial against him and his company.
“I have already testified to everything & have nothing more to say other than this is a complete & total election interference (Biden campaign!) witch hunt” so “I will not be testifying on Monday,” Trump said in an all-caps, two-part post on his social media platform Truth Social.
Trump had been scheduled to testify Monday as one of the final defense witnesses in a trial that has lasted two months and is entering its final week of testimony.
He had been expected to tout his company’s success and push back on New York Attorney General Letitia James’ claims that he vastly overvalued his properties and his net worth in financial statements that he used to get favorable loans from banks that he otherwise would not have been entitled to.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/reversal-donald-trump-says-will-not-testify-defense-new-york-fraud-tri-rcna128749
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kimbutgar
(27,248 posts)The orange maggot is becoming more demented everyday.
claudette
(5,455 posts)orange criminal is crazy AND stupid!
ExWhoDoesntCare
(4,741 posts)But he's not crazy. His crazy isn't crazy at all. It's being an arsehole.
That's a character deficiency, not a mental illness.
SouthernDem4ever
(6,619 posts)and the critters in congress that won't denounce his criminality against the Constitution.
Escurumbele
(4,094 posts)to talk about the SOB, think about him, he doesn't debate and he is still the most likely nominee, he has his minions working to cheat on the next elections, and unless Democrats do something to curve the SOB he could become president...I don't think he will, but underestimating him will not do the job. I have a feeling he likes to play stupid, which he is, but he knows how to play it, because his stupid followers can identify with that kind of stupidity and senseless diatribes.
I hate the fact that people are acting scared about a 2nd term from the SOB, and it disgusts me to watch news programs talking about him all day, as a matter of fact, I try to avoid reading about the SOB. I understand that panic must be inserted into the population because the USA does not, and cannot recognize totalitarians, the USA has never lived under one, and lets face it, USA citizens don't like to read, which makes it even worst.
So, lets not underestimate the SOB, he may be dysfunctional, but some of it is acting, he knows his deplorable and dysfunctional base love it.
C Moon
(13,643 posts)ExWhoDoesntCare
(4,741 posts)I don't think about the traitor scum at all.
And most of why I surf over to DU most days is to see if the gormless git is on the proper side of the grass, at long last.
Alas, I remain disappointed.
AncientOfDays
(264 posts)casting Biden as an oppressor and himself as the victim is a large part of his campaign.
iluvtennis
(21,497 posts)judge's clerk, judge's staff, and prosecutor's staff.
kiri
(967 posts)2. Gag order was upheld, so he can't get on the stand and spew vile garbage about the judge's clerk, judge's staff, and prosecutor's staff.
This is incorrect. The gag order only applies to outside the court room. It would be absurd to interpret it as prohibiting full and truthful testimony as a witness in court.
The Habba fool tries to do this.
However the prosecutors will object, and the judge will agree, that rambling garbage is not responsive to the questions or the matter of the proceeding.
.
Farmer-Rick
(12,667 posts)On these super loans. So by overvaluing his properties he saved on interest.
And he never did pay back the banks anyway. He threatened them with litigation and the banks settled for much, much less. The banks forgave millions.
Then Trump turned around and failed to pay any taxes on the loan forgiveness. You and I are required to pay taxes on any student loan or other loan forgiveness but no so much Trump. He's above the law.
thesquanderer
(13,006 posts)I seem to remember reading about that as well. I wonder why we're not hearing more about that now, with TFG's repeated protestations that he paid the banks back in full and they love him (the "no harm no foul" defense). Haven't some banks cut him off and refused to do further business with him? Shouldn't all that be evidence that, indeed, his fraud was not only wrong by itself, but also had real world consequences for others?
Farmer-Rick
(12,667 posts)About how Trump pulled off this scam. Also found a few reports from earlier this year about it.
But now, no one seems to be talking about how Trump ripped off the large banks.
I'm surprised the banks aren't screaming holly hell. But they are run by the same people who are supporting Trump. The bank owners made a lot of money off Trump's tax giveaways and they want more.
It's as if the filthy-rich in America have given up on US democracy and gone full on for fascism. So, they are keeping quiet about their losses in hopes of making even more wealth off a Trump win (or theft of an election thru the Supremes).
thesquanderer
(13,006 posts)...I would think that Letitia James would have compelled testimony from them if indeed Trump had not fulfilled his original obligations that were based on the fraudulent statements.
MichMan
(17,151 posts)or are they giving it to the banks?
ExWhoDoesntCare
(4,741 posts)Not any bank's. So, no, they don't get the money she fought to get the state. What they're owed isn't her problem.
If the banks want their money back, then they're free to pick up a phone and and call one of the many attorneys they keep on retainer--or have working for them in-house. Nobody's stopping them from doing that...except themselves.
Farmer-Rick
(12,667 posts)But if the banks don't cooperate how is she going to prove they were conned?
I think at least in New York, it's easier to go after other things and people than to force large banks to do something they don't want to do.
But it is very weird.
thesquanderer
(13,006 posts)But IIRC at least one of the banks involved was not a US bank, so that could be a complication in terms of compelling testimony.
no_hypocrisy
(54,906 posts)1. Don't get on the stand and testify and be subject to cross examination, and
2. Say whatever nonsense he wants in the hallways where he's not under oath and subject to cross.
walkingman
(10,863 posts)claudette
(5,455 posts)The big bad orange criminal's lawyers know he would bury himself if he testified. What a looooooooser!!!! LOL
but he doesn't cower! 
claudette
(5,455 posts)😂
birdographer
(2,937 posts)Well, except the one time.
Ocelot II
(130,533 posts)because the only reason he would do so is if he had an audience. There's no up-side at all for him, and even the incompetent nitwits he has for lawyers know that he can only hurt himself.
Evolve Dammit
(21,777 posts)
Novara
(6,115 posts)Upholding gag orders shuts him up. Hey, we need more gag orders!
He knows he'd end up in jail if he got on the stand because he has the self-control of a toddler on meth and he would insult the judge, his staff, and everyone else, and he'd land in jail.
republianmushroom
(22,325 posts)He does tell lies, and a lot of them. But he gets a lot of press from them.
Escurumbele
(4,094 posts)How are they giving him tips? Simple, by saying that "he should not testify because all he will do is screw up", DON'T TELL HIM THAT! Tell him "yes, he should testify, he will defend himself very well, it will be difficult to pin him down, etc.", Inflate his ego and make him think he is smart, and then let him crash when he testifies.
TwilightZone
(28,836 posts)He's a nightmare witness for a defense attorney, as they are no doubt quite aware.
"yes, he should testify, he will defend himself very well"
No one was ever going to believe that, regardless of the source.
C_U_L8R
(49,384 posts)He certainly isn't trying to win his case. What a dumbass.
bucolic_frolic
(55,137 posts)He's revealing his DAY ONE DICTATOR intent like a flasher in Central Park. Eww, what a disgusting thought, Trump as a flasher. But he can't resist.
Voltaire2
(15,377 posts)testimony. Pretending it did was done to create yet grievance to be victimized by.
DinahMoeHum
(23,607 posts)
LiberalFighter
(53,544 posts)
SledDriver
(2,122 posts)Likes to get up there and talk tough, but then he pusses out like the whiny little pissboy that he is.
AllaN01Bear
(29,490 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,713 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(135,713 posts)Former President Donald Trump was supposed to testify again at his New York civil fraud trial on Monday, but he made a surprise announcement Sunday that he would not be appearing.
Trump has already testified once in the trial, repeatedly barreling past questions from the New York attorney general’s office to instead attack the judge overseeing his case and the attorney general’s $250 million lawsuit against him.
The questions on Monday would have been friendlier to the former president, as he had been scheduled to testify under questioning from his own attorneys in an effort to bolster his defense against allegations he fraudulently inflated the value of his properties.
Trump’s about-face on his testimony comes as he has relentlessly attacked the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar the former president from doing business in the state.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/know-trump-decision-not-testify-220734101.html
Maeve
(43,456 posts)
SoFlaBro
(3,790 posts)brush
(61,033 posts)Tish James has got all the prove she needs against him. In fact, it's aready been decided he committed massive fraud in asset valuation, now it's just being decided how much he has to cough up to make the lenders and tax authorities whole...oh, and whether he'll be able to do business in NY anymore.
PortTack
(35,820 posts)dalton99a
(94,115 posts)
Warpy
(114,615 posts)However, we know the real reason is that his lawyers know he'd be a fucking disaster on the witness stand.
raising2moredems
(752 posts)He's a pussy. And someone *might* have made him realize SCOTUS, sans Uncle Clarence, considers him toxic. And TFOG is stupid - appoint someone to a lifetime position and then think they will be "loyal" to you?
LudwigPastorius
(14,725 posts)Sad orange man admits he can't stop the shit inside him from spewing out of his anal-mouth.
Kablooie
(19,107 posts)Then just before he is supposed to do it he pulls out, which puts him in the headlines again.
It’s all about ensuring his nsmae is always on the front page.
democrank
(12,598 posts)Coward ass bully
mwb970
(12,150 posts)THIS is the God and Savior of the MAGA morons? Good luck, fools.
Aviation Pro
(15,578 posts)Goddamned......
Coward.............
Go suck on a bone spur, Motherfucker.
Owens
(597 posts)When the trial is over he will be screaming that he never got to testify.
Kid Berwyn
(24,395 posts)Biden changes his mind, media make it into a "Flip-Flop."
Orange NAZI flip flops on testifying and it's a "Reversal."
Motherfuckers.
Paladin
(32,354 posts)Tell us something we don't already know, for a change...
cab67
(3,749 posts)...but it could also be a sudden flash of competence on the part of one of his lawyers.
Most lawyers would do everything they could to keep their client from testifying.
Then again, the likelihood that Trump would actually listen to such advice is nil, so I still lean toward cowardice.