Trump has the right to silence, but not the ability.
So…. Just wondering: if by some chance Trump does testify, and he burbles out a bunch of disjointed word salad complete with insults to the plaintiff and the judge… with a bunch of unrelated personal whining…
Can the judge step in and tell him to answer the questions directly or shut up?
Yes he can.
I have to say the fresh pictures of Trump show a very old and much-dissipated critter compared to the guy in say 2019 most of the way through his administration.
These don’t seem to be “attack pix” carefully chosen to put him in the worst light. They’re just him doing whatever, and generally something leisurely & low stress.
I don’t see any way that he testifies. Later on, he might say that he should have but “there’s was no way that he’d get a fair trial” or similar malarkey.
I suspect if he came into court and made a move toward the witness stand his own lawyers would gang-tackle him and hustle him out.
Okay, yeh, they wouldn’t really. But they’d want to.
He’s aging more quickly from the stress of not being president.
I agree, and I’ve heard speculation that his whole “I have to get back to New York to confront my accuser” schtick was his way of saving face because he wasn’t able to score an invite to the coronation this weekend.
Now I picture him shuffling around Scotland going “I need two tickets, need two, anyone got two? They don’t need to be together…”
And everyone he passes just avoids eye contact, shakes their head and hustles away.
Tacopina told the judge that Trump wasn’t going to show up and was waiving his right to testify. Both the prosecution and the defense rested. The judge said “Ya know what, he did SAY he was going to show up so I’m going to give him a few days” Trump has no excuses now. MiedasTouch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0IXHJGgqBI
Something that is not done, once again, done for that defendant.
As regrettable and sick as it is, that defendant was a US (HORK!) president. And it seems to me that the granting of a little extra time is only going to show that Trump has no intention whatsoever of showing up. Which I guess he’s not required to do, and let the jury draw their conclusions. I like it.
I highly doubt Trump thinks it’s a favor. It was done to humiliate him because he’s being given plenty of time and still won’t show up.
Yeah, but I guess I just don’t give a shit what Trump thinks about it. I was going more for the ‘what the jury thinks about it’ angle.
Remember when we used to hold presidents to a higher standard than the rest of us?
In a way we still do-
It’s the only reason that lying bastard hasn’t had handcuffs slapped across his wrists.
Wait, that’s not a higher standard, that’s treating an American like they were royalty. My bad.
I just saw, for the first time, the portion of Trump’s deposition where he was questioned about the whole “pussy grabbing” statement.
“True with stars that they can grab women by the pussy?” Ms. Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta A. Kaplan, asks.
“Well, that’s what — if you look over the last million years, I guess that’s been largely true,” Mr. Trump says. “Not always, but largely true. Unfortunately (and then he just couldn’t help himself) or fortunately.” Kaplan should have asked him, “Fortunately for who?”
If I were juror, that statement alone would convince me that he did it and didn’t see anything wrong about it.
Reptile brain meet modern society.
Plaintiff, not prosecution.
I think this judge knows that Trump is going to be on TV talking about how unfair he was treated because he wanted to give a defense but the mean old judge wouldn’t let him. So he’s pulling that rug out from under Trump right now. Trump is still going to complain about it nonetheless but at least the judge can now say “we gave him extra time and he decided not to show so there you have it.” It won’t sway MAGA-world but I still think it’s worthwhile to undercut the narrative that everyone is being mean to him because they all hate him so much.