Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Council Bluffs, Iowa, July 7, 2023.
Scott Morgan | Reuters
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he’ll take the witness stand and “have a good time” at what he predicted shall be “the trial of the century” as he faces an expected federal indictment over his efforts to reverse his loss within the 2020 election.
“We’ll have a good time on the stand with all of those those who say the Presidential Election wasn’t Rigged and Stollen,” Trump wrote on his social media site, misspelling the ultimate word.
“THE TRIAL OF THE CENTURY!!!” added Trump, who’s searching for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. He has been fundraising for his campaign off the potential indictment.
Trump in separate Truth Social posts Wednesday repeated claims that he’s the victim of “prosecutorial misconduct” and an effort by the Department of Justice to interfere within the 2024 election.
Trump was indicted earlier this yr by a federal grand jury in South Florida on dozens of criminal counts related to his retention of classified government records after leaving the White House, in addition to his efforts to stop officials from recovering those documents. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, which was brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The trial is about to start in late May.
Last week, Trump announced that his lawyers had been notified by Smith that he’s a goal of the separate criminal investigation of his and his allies’ efforts to overturn his electoral loss to President Joe Biden in 2020.
Individually from Smith’s investigation, a Georgia prosecutor is investigating Trump for potential crimes related to interfering in that state’s 2020 presidential election.
Trump’s boast about taking the witness stand at a trial in either election-related case, if he’s indicted, could prove empty.
It’s rare for defendants in criminal cases to testify, due to risk that their credibility shall be damaged on cross-examination by prosecutors.
In a criminal case, the burden of proof is on prosecutors to prove guilt beyond an affordable doubt, and defense attorneys routinely remind juries of that fact, in addition to their clients after they advise them to not testify.
Trump didn’t take the witness stand at his recent civil trial where he was accused of defaming and raping the author E. Jean Carroll.
He also didn’t show up in federal court in Recent York for that case, which ended with jurors finding him answerable for sexually abusing Carroll and for defaming her. The jury ordered Trump to pay Carroll $5 million in damages.
Trump, who denies sexually assaulting Carroll, is appealing that verdict.
Along with the federal criminal trial on the documents charges, Trump is about to face trial in Recent York state court in Manhattan in late March on charges of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels by his then-personal lawyer Michael Cohen.
Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case, which is being prosecuted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
