Donald Trump will no longer testify in his own defense during his civil fraud trial against him and his company as the trial enters its final week of testimony. He was scheduled to take the stand on Monday, Nov. 11, but in a last-minute reversal, he announced on Sunday that he won’t head back to the witness stand in New York state’s $250 million civil fraud lawsuit.
“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 wrote in an all-caps, two-part post on his social media platform Truth Social, as NBC News reports.
The trial is entering its final week of testimony after it began two months ago. The former president was scheduled to testify on Monday as one of the final defense witnesses, where he was expected to emphasize his company’s success while refuting New York Attorney General Letitia James’ allegations that he exaggerated the worth of his properties and his net worth in financial statements he used to secure bank loans that he would not have otherwise obtained.
On Nov. 6, Trump was called as a witness by the state’s attorneys where he also disputed James’ claims, while also accusing prosecuting attorney Kevin Wallace and “every other Democrat… coming at me from 15 different sides” of being “haters.” Presiding Judge Arthur Engoron warned Trump’s attorneys to “control him if you can” otherwise “I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can” following Trump offering political diatribes in lieu of answering questions during his testimony. “This is a very, very unfair trial, very. And I hope the public is watching it,” Trump quipped at the time. Trump also went on to attack the judge’s wife, Dawn Engoron, in a series of social media posts earlier this month.
Trump was not required to testify in the case, and his son Eric Trump, who had previously testified in the case, backed out of testifying last week, which the elder Trump said in a social media post that he directed his son to do. His son Donald Trump Jr. testified in November.
Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, previously told reporters on Thursday that he was “looking forward to taking the stand,” though she had urged him not to due to a gag order, which was sought to protect Engoron’s law clerks from “threats and physical harm” stemming from Trump’s attacks. Trump has been fined twice for a total of $15,000 after Engoron found Trump violated the gag order.
