Judge Rules Trump Can Testify in Hush-Money Trial

U.S. Former President Donald Trump
U.S. Former President Donald Trump. Credit | Getty images

United States: On Friday, in Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial, the judge said that the gag order barring Trump from making public remarks about witnesses and jurors and from testifying at his own trial is not applicable.

Judge Overrules Gag Order

“I want to stress to Mr. Trump: you have an absolute right to testify at trial,” Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Juan Merchan said to start the 11th day of the trial against Trump.

Trump parsed back after today’s hearing, stating that he could not testify because of the gag order. He expounded on Friday with his thesis that it was not the case. Testifying: “It is impossible for the court to scare me,” he told reporters before entering the courtroom, as reported by Reuters.

While making the statement, Donald Trump, through his legal team, showed intention of breaking the ban order, which bars the president from making any remarks to the public concerning the jurors, witnesses, and families of the judge and the prosecutors if the purpose of such remarks is intimidation.

Trump Faces Fine for Violating Order

Merchan levied Trump an additional USD 9,000 fine on Tuesday for the violation of the order and hinted that such an offense is likely to warrant further fines as prosecutors lawfully allege it. Merchan has specifically mentioned Trump may have to go to jail if he does not amend his demeanor.

The judge rejected a suggestion by Trump’s attorneys that the former president be allowed to see what he will do with the commentary before he posts it online.

“When in doubt, steer clear,” Merchan said, changing his face as Trump shook his head and sighed.

Witnesses Reveal Details of Hush-Money Payment

The witnesses on Friday would almost certainly be offering details of an infamous hush money payment that bought the voters’ silence and left voters in the 2016 election blind to a porn star who claimed she had sexual experiences with the then-Republican presidential candidate.

Did the 12 regular jurors and six alternates in the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president have any knowledge of what really happened during this case involving the key players?

Such people are Stormy Daniels, the adult actress who got USD 130,000 to stop publicizing the reported sexual intercourse, and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and mainstream supporter who arranged this payment prior to Trump’s 2016 win.

Trump Denies Charges

Trump has entered a plea of not found guilty to charges against the falsification of business records, with the latter covering up the payment to Daniels, and he also denies having a sexual encounter with her. It was unclear which one of them was going to be witnessed on the 25 of January.

Prosecution Concerned about Witness Tampering

Prosecutors won’t disclose in advance the names of the witnesses as they are afraid that Trump will not let them alone and try to persuade the audience since he himself has his own media empire and makes speeches regularly, being the anti-hero of the 2024 White House campaign.

So far, the juries attended the lawyer Keith Davidson on the fact that he made the arrangement for the payment along with Cohen. When giving testimony, he was under questioning from Trump’s defense team, and he even conceded that he was still carrying out such a deal with other known people.

The defense contends that it was given to save him from public disgrace, not to run the presidential campaign.

Pecker had also testified that he had a side agreement with the Enquirer under which he was to keep a check on damaging stories for Trump’s sake. The newspaper paid anonymous former Playboy model Karen McDougal USD 150,000 for her story of an affair with Trump but did not publish it in the evidence given at the trial. Trump also asserts that he didn’t sleep with that woman.

Trump argues that the case is the fourth of the season Democrats plot in an attempt to obstruct his re-election campaign.

The case with its sensational adultery and hidden pay off reports is not as impactful as three other criminal cases where Trump is charges with. He is charged with provoking his 2020 presidential defeat reversal and poor handling of classified documents after he was out of office. Trump has also entered a not-guilty plea for all charges against him, as reported by Reuters.

Despite this, the president’s chances of winning the election lessen, according to the recent Reuters/Ipsos survey.