A legal expert on CNN said on Wednesday that he would “plead” with former President Trump not to testify in his trial about hush money in New York, which is set to start next week.
Elie Honig, speaking to Jake Tapper on CNN’s “The Lead,” said that Trump’s lawyers should prevent him from testifying during the hush money case. Trump’s lawyers have been trying to delay the case from starting on Monday, but their efforts haven’t worked yet.
“So on that second point, first, I would beg him not to take this stand. You never quite know what Donald Trump will do. I think it’s unlikely he takes the stand, Jake, even though in movies and TV, the defendant seems to always take the stand, it’s quite rare in a criminal case,” Honig said.
Honig noted that Trump testified in the New York civil fraud case last year, but that it went “dreadfully” for the former president.
“So it’s always the defendant’s prerogative. He always has the right to testify, he has the right not to testify. I do expect him, if any sort of reason and sanity prevails here, not to take the stand,” Honig said.
Tapper also asked Honig about how Trump’s lawyers should prepare him to sit through this trial, noting that Trump has had “some difficulties with his courtroom behavior.” Honig said that he would “implore” Trump to “behave himself.”
“The jury is sitting just a couple feet away from you. They’re watching and evaluating everything you do. And if you’re hanging your head and grumbling and having a temper tantrum, they will see that they will hold that against you,” Honig said.
Trump is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records over reimbursements to his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, who paid porn actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet about an alleged affair with Trump. The former president has denied the affair and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
