If Trump decides to speak up on Thursday for the closing arguments of his $350 million civil fraud case in New York City, he could be grilled by Attorney General Letitia James' prosecutors.
Appearing on MSNBC's "The Last Word" with Lawrence O'Donnell Tuesday night, former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann explained the potentially catastrophic wrinkle in the 45th president's plan to deliver a final soliloquy in court to save his business.
That is, if he intends to speak up during the closing arguments of his case — where he, his adult sons Don Jr. and Eric, along with execs and the Trump Organization stand accused of committing widespread fraud to secure favorable loans and deals — he opens himself up to be questioned by prosecutors.
"I think one of the best things for prosecutor in this case will be if he takes the stand," Weissmann explained. "It's not allowed; even if you are there and you decide you're going to do it, if you start testifying you either are cut off or you’re subject to cross-examination. So you just can't start talking in closing and say this is what happened. Trump may be saying this now. If you do that, you hop on the stand and the other side gets to cross-examine you."
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump floated his intention to deliver a partial closing argument on Thursday's conclusion of his New York civil business fraud trial.
New York AG James accused Trump of hyping the value of his properties by billions of dollars on financial statements that buoyed him to nab business loans and insurance.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron already decided the lawsuit’s top claim before trial back in late September, ruling that Trump and other defendants engaged in longstanding fraud for years.
