He’s not in danger of being charged with sexual assault. The statute of limitations will surely have run on that.
This is a defamation case. He is at no criminal risk if he answers a question truthfully about whether he uttered the words that constitute the alleged defamation. I’m aware that defendants in a civil case can plead the fifth, but in this case if he does, he’s going to lose the case at trial.
I do agree with others who’ve said he is easily goaded into going against whatever response he is advised might be in his best interest.
But will what he says be pertinent to the question asked? Or will he give rambling “answers” that eventually turn into airing grievances such a how the election was stolen? To Trump, it’s always Festivus.
I’ve watched him respond in other depositions from years ago when he was more sharp. His standard tactic is to simply repeat, “I don’t recall,” over and over again.
Unfortunately for him, this may not get him out of potential contempt charges.
The important quote:
What can be even more stressful for the witness are instructions from their own attorneys, who, along with many other details, will tell them not to “guess” or “speculate” on their answers. Lawyers may also tell witnesses that if they don’t remember certain events, they can simply say “I don’t recall.” In general, such instructions are not improper. A witness cannot, however, repeatedly answer “I don’t recall” to avoid truthfully answering questions. Being deliberately obstructive could result in a contempt finding, sanctions and even criminal punishment.
I agree with this. I think that, for him, being truthful is on a par with how he thinks about paying income taxes and following laws and regulations – in his mind, that’s for suckers.
I do believe that he knows when he lies, but he also believes that, at that moment, the lie is of bigger benefit to him, personally (particularly if it is in the service of making him seem more successful or generally awesome), and that is always his primary, if not only, motivation.
I am not entirely convinced of that, though. He lives in a Matrix of his own making, so his perception of reality skews more toward what he thinks the truth should be.
Possibly so. He and his father were apparently both fans of Norman Vincent Peale, and his book and philosophy “The Power of Positive Thinking.” While I don’t think that Trump buys into the religious side of Peale’s book, the whole idea of creating the reality you want by visualization and stating that it’s so seems pretty congruent with how he speaks and behaves.
I think whether he lies or doesn’t, simply doesn’t enter into his consideration. He is amoral to the bone. He says whatever serves him best. Nothing else matters. Whether it’s a lie is completely irrelevant. Usually a lie serves his purposes better than the truth, so he lies. A lot.
I would take this idea further - it’s not just that he is amoral to the bone, he is selfish on a scale most of us would have difficulty wrapping our minds around. The ONLY thing that matters to him is Donald J. Trump, period.
Consider this - if he were confronted with giving his life in order to save another life, who do you think he would do that for? I seriously doubt there is anyone that falls in that category. Certainly not Melania and not any of his kids, not Don Jr., not Eric, not Ivanka, not Tiffany and not even Barron. I truly believe he would allow each of them to be executed before he would ever say, “No, kill me instead.”
I’m certain all of us have several people, possibly dozens or more, who we would give our lives to save. But I absolutely know there is no one DJT would do this for.
No kidding. When faced with the choice between a hamberder and Ivanka’s life, he’s say something like “You know how I’ve always wanted to fuck you? Well, consider yourself fucked” as he grabs the lunch and watches his daughter dragged off to her execution.
He might try to make a case that, since he was at the top of the government at the time, his reasons for making the allegedly defamatory statements against the plaintiff were a matter of national security and are classified. The plaintiff may, possibly, then attempt to get verification from the NSC or CIA or some other source, but that could prove challenging and/or beyond their means.
The thing about Trump is that he’s unpredictable. You can never pin him down. He certainly has traits that suggest how he will react to any given situation but you can’t count on it. Whatever he does seems to be part self-serving pragmatism, part spite, and part whim. He’s inconsistent.
So he might legally hang himself over the objections of his advisors or he might clam up to avoid getting in trouble. I think either is equally likely. He’s like a Magic 8-Ball of awfulness.
