Ahead of Donald Trump‘s criminal hush money trial on Monday, CNN legal analyst Jeremy Saland said prosecutors would “absolutely” like to see the former president take the stand.
Trump is set to become the first former president in United States history to stand trial in a criminal case on Monday. Following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, Trump was indicted in March 2023 on charges of falsifying business records relating to hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Daniels alleged that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied.
Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has said the case is politically motivated against him.
In a Monday interview on CNN, hours before the trial, host Kate Bolduan and Saland discussed the witnesses expected to take the stand in Trump’s trial.
However, when asked by Bolduan if prosecution would like to see Trump take the stand, Saland, a former Manhattan prosecutor, said “absolutely.”
“Absolutely, let me say that again, 100 percent. Now he is going to play games, but he is not going to say whether in fact he will or maybe he says he does because he wants to keep them off guard,” Saland said.
Saland continued to explain that prosecutors would love to put Trump on the hot seat and get him to “contradict himself.”
“The man is so bombastic and uncontrollable that he could sink his own ship. I mean, you would love to cross-examine this former president and have him contradict himself, have him go on a tirade, alienate the jury. He’s ripe for prosecution to be cross-examined,” Saland added.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump’s spokesperson via email for comment.
This comes after last month, Trump said he “would have no problem testifying” in the case. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” he explained.
Trump further discussed testifying last week while speaking to reporters, telling NBC News, “Yeah, I would testify, absolutely.”
“I’m testifying. I tell the truth, I mean, all I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there is no case,” Trump said.
In addition, speculation over whether or not Trump will testify in the trial has ramped up as former assistant U.S. attorney David Katz said the Republican may take the stand in a “Hail Mary move” if he thinks the trial is going “poorly for him.”
Speaking to British broadcaster Times Radio, Katz said, “He’s trying to thread the needle where he doesn’t infuriate the jury and he somehow appeals to them and I think his charm seems to work in some of the swing states and with his base. He is going to try to charm the jury, he may even testify. If Michael Cohen goes in pretty well and the trial otherwise goes poorly for him he might just Hail Mary take the stand.”
Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, facilitated the alleged payments to Daniels. In 2018, he pled guilty to eight counts of breaking campaign finance and other laws with the aim of impacting the 2016 presidential race. He is expected to be a star witness in the case.
However, others have pointed out Trump’s previous behaviors that have led to the former president being issued a gag order as a reason why Trump’s testimony may be “risky” for the former president.
Former federal prosecutor Jennifer Rodgers was asked Monday during an appearance on CNN if Trump could testify in the trial as she explained prosecutors could cross-examine Trump on “impeachment evidence,” which includes “questions about reputation for dishonesty.”
“As soon as a defendant testifies, everything else kinda fades away,” Rodgers said. “It would be really risky for him to testify and there’s no way he’s gonna do it if they don’t get a really good ruling from the judge on what prosecutors can and can’t go into on cross-examination. No one has a stronger reputation for dishonesty than the former president,” she said.
In March, Merchan imposed a gag order on Trump, barring him from making public statements about witnesses, including Cohen and Daniels, as well as lawyers and staff in the case and their families. The order excluded Merchan and Bragg. It was later expanded to include Merchan’s and Bragg’s families after Trump made blistering attacks toward the judge’s daughter, Loren Merchan.
Jury selection for the trial begins on April 15, when more than 500 New Yorkers will fill out questionnaires about their political beliefs before 12 are chosen. Six alternate jurors will also be selected for the case.
