The judge in Donald Trump's New York fraud trial will likely allow Trump to be "aggressive" on the witness stand—but only to stop him winning an appeal, a legal expert has said.
The former president and frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination previously testified in the civil trial after being called by lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James, but he is expected to be called to the stand again by his own lawyers, who start presenting the defense case on Monday.
Donald Trump, his two eldest sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and The Trump Organization are co-defendants in the civil case brought by James, who accuses the former president of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills. Trump denies wrongdoing.
Eric C. Chaffee, a financial crimes expert and law professor at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, told Newsweek that Judge Arthur Engoron wants to avoid giving Trump grounds to challenge his findings.
"Judge Engoron is likely to give former President Trump and his counsel wide latitude in presenting testimony. He has publicly stated that he does not want a retrial or to be reversed. This type of latitude often reflects that a judge has already made up their mind in a case," Chaffee said.
Chaffee said that Trump will likely seize his uninterrupted opportunity on the witness stand to speak to American voters.
"Beyond creating a record for appeal, former President Trump will be presenting his case to the world, especially American voters, during this phase of the case. We are likely to see the aggressive tone toward the court from earlier in the case reappear as evidence progresses. Former President Trump has consistently claimed that this case is about politics, rather than justice," Chaffee said.
Monday will mark the first time that the Trump family will get to tell their side of the story from a defense perspective. Donald Trump Jr. will be the first defense witness to be called. The Trump family lawyers did not ask him any questions when he previously testified.
His siblings Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump were also called to the stand, as was Donald Trump Sr. Ivanka is no longer a defendant in the case after an appeal court ruled that James is time-barred from taking a case against her.
During his testimony, Donald Trump Jr. largely distanced himself from the company accounts at the center of the case and said that he left the accounting to the Trump Organization accountants.
Chaffee said that "we already generally know their theory of the case," that the Trump side will be presenting.
"President Trump and his counsel will almost certainly continue to assert through the witnesses called that this case is politically motivated and is best characterized as New York Attorney General Letitia James persecuting him. Through testimony, counsel will attempt to pick apart the various elements of the alleged wrongdoing in the indictment and demonstrate that no misrepresentations occurred, that no one was victimized, and that former President Trump's experience as a real estate developer ought to be respected," Chaffee said.
Donald Trump Jr. is expected to be far less hostile than his father and explain in greater detail why he didn't feel responsible for property evaluations at the center of the case.
Engoron ruled in September that Donald Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, committed fraud in their property evaluations. The court will decide on six other accusations, including falsifying business records, insurance fraud, and conspiracy claims. Engoron himself will rule on the charges, as Trump's legal team did not opt for a jury trial.
Newsweek sought email comment on Monday from attorneys for Donald Trump Sr. and Donald Trump Jr.
Engoron is also expected to rule on Monday on a defense request for a directed verdict, which occurs when a judge dismisses a case because the evidence is too weak. However, Engoron has already indicated that he will likely rule against the directed verdict motion and has already twice rejected a similar request from Trump's lawyers. Engoron has ordered that the defense should go into evidence on Monday, regardless of the directed verdict motion.
Chaffee said the Trump witnesses will be far freer to give their side of the story than they were when they were compelled to give evidence for the New York Attorney General, who is the plaintiff in the case.
"[The Trumps] will be able to speak much more freely about the case as witnesses for the defense. Presenting a defense is in part about telling a story. We are now going to hear the defense's theory about what happened in this case," Chaffee said.
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Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more
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