Christian Smith
Questions are emerging over whether Donald Trump will present a defense in his historic hush-hush criminal trial as the Manhattan district attorney’s office wraps up its lead case this week.
The former president’s lawyers, it appears, don’t have any answers, including whether Trump plans to take a stand — something he has suggested he would like to do.
Todd Blanche, one of Trump’s defense lawyers, said Thursday that his team hoped to reach a decision at some point.
“That’s another decision we need to consider,” Blanche told the judge.
As the defense has not committed to calling witnesses, the trial is approaching its end, which means that the jury could begin its deliberations as early as next week.
Criminal defendants like Trump are not required to present their own defense; the government bears the burden of proving your guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
But with a felony conviction and possible prison sentence at stake, any decision Trump makes — including whether to take a stand — could have far-reaching consequences. And Trump is known for wanting to speak for himself rather than leaving it to others.
Prosecutors called 20 witnesses in an effort to convince jurors that Trump is guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records when he reimbursed his then-middleman, Michal Cohen, who paid porn star Stormy Danies $130,000 days before the election. 2016 to remain quiet about an affair. alleged affair with Trump, which he denies.
Trump has pleaded not guilty, insisting the records are true and distancing himself from the alleged scheme.
Cohen, the prosecutors’ star and last witness, is expected to conclude his testimony on Monday, after which Trump’s lawyers will present – or not – the former president’s defense.
If they call any witnesses, their case is expected to be short, perhaps allowing the trial to draw to a close next week.
The most significant question remaining is whether Trump himself will take a stand.
After expressing regret over not doing so in a civil trial he lost about a year ago, Trump took the stand in his two most recent civil trials.
In the early days of the criminal trial, the former president insisted he would do so again in his ongoing case to silence the money. But in recent days, he has not responded to reporters’ shouted questions about whether he would do so. And his lawyers have repeatedly told the judge there is no determination yet.
“And do you have any indication as to whether your client will testify?” Judge Juan Merchan asked Tuesday.
“No,” replied Blanche, Trump’s lawyer.
It is unusual for a criminal defendant to take a stand in his own defense, and legal experts generally agree that the strategy is risky.
When Trump testified at his civil fraud trial last year, he repeatedly veered off into political tangents, drawing warnings from the judge.
“Overall, Donald Trump rarely responded to questions posed and frequently interjected long and irrelevant speeches on matters well beyond the scope of the trial,” Judge Arthur Engoron, who oversaw Trump’s civil fraud trial, wrote in his February ruling. “His refusal to answer questions directly, or in some cases at all, seriously undermined his credibility.”
Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing Trump’s criminal trial, ruled that Trump hush money prosecutors, who cannot force the former president to testify, could question him about “bad acts” stemming from his many recent civil cases. .
In addition to Trump, the defense suggested that his case would include only a few potential witnesses, chief among them an expert who would testify about campaign finance law.
The defense has not yet made a final decision about calling Bradley Smith, former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Before the trial, the judge granted prosecutors’ request to limit the scope of their potential testimony, and the defense, before leaving the courtroom for the week, asked for further rulings from the judge to inform their decision.
Smith’s testimony would refute prosecutors’ broader theory in the case that Trump sought to influence the 2016 presidential election through the efforts of his allies to quell bad press about the then-candidate. The theory is vital to whether jurors convict Trump, as New Yorkers must determine that the former president acted in furtherance of another crime to find him guilty of the criminal forgery charges he faces.
If they call Smith, prosecutors indicated they would call Adav Noti, a former associate general counsel at the FEC who now works at the Campaign Legal Center, as their response expert.
If the defense doesn’t call their expert or Trump, however, they have indicated they may briefly call some other witnesses but still rest until the end of the day Monday.
“I don’t want to make any commitments about Monday’s day, but it is certainly reasonable to believe that, in addition to Mr. Smith, witnesses will be able to come and go on Monday,” Blanche told the judge. last week.
This would bring about a quick conclusion to the trial, with the possibility of the jury receiving the case before leaving for Memorial Day weekend. However, it will be a short week: the trial will not be held on Wednesday or Friday due to conflicts of jurors.
Afterwards, Trump’s fate will be in the hands of the 12 New Yorkers who are part of his jury, as they deliberate whether to make him the first president in the country’s history convicted of a crime.
Updated at 7:50 a.m. EDT
