The wife of former President Donald Trump possibly testifying against him in his criminal trial could "backfire" on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a former Trump aide said this week.
On Wednesday's airing of ABC's The View, the hosts spoke about the ongoing trial against Trump in Manhattan for alleged hush money payments made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. The hosts discussed the possibility of Bragg calling on Trump's wife, Melania Trump, to testify against him, prompting a response from Alyssa Farah Griffin, an ex-aide to Trump.
"I think this will come down to more of a paper trail kind of case and I think they have the facts there," Farah Griffin said. "I think to call her [Melania] would look salacious, would likely backfire too. She's never broken with him on major issues."
On Tuesday, Trump's criminal trial continued in Manhattan with a focus on the jury selection process. Bragg indicted Trump in April 2023, accusing the former president of "fraudulently falsified New York business records to conceal crimes that hid damaging information from the voting public during the 2016 presidential election."
Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denied any wrongdoing in the case. He was previously placed under a gag order after criticizing the daughter of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, who is overseeing the case.
During the first day of trial, Merchan read the names of possible witnesses, instructing prospective jurors on Monday to advise the court if any of those individuals might affect their ability to be fair and impartial, which included Trump's adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric, as well as his wife, former first lady, Melania.
While Bragg has not yet indicated whether he will or will not call Melania to testify in the case, some legal experts told Newsweek earlier on Wednesday that it is a possibility.
"If Melania is subpoenaed by the prosecution, she would have to testify unless she can assert some sort of privilege," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek earlier on Wednesday.
However, former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that "the likelihood of that occurring is extremely low to non-existent."
McAuliffe said that was because Melania has no involvement in the underlying allegations that Trump had an affair with Daniels.
"Any government attempt to force her to be present as a potential witness would just feed Trump's preferred narrative that the case is about airing salacious rumors instead of holding Trump accountable for crimes," McAuliffe said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson and Bragg's office via email for comment.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
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