When he takes the witness stand in the ongoing New York fraud trial against him and the Trump Organization on Monday, disgraced former president Donald Trump is expected to be “furious” and lash out angrily at prosecutors, which could all but seal his fate, according to a former federal prosecutor.
Jennifer Rodgers, who worked for the United States Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, said Sunday on CNN that “fireworks” are likely to be on display when Trump testifies.
“He’s been talking, of course, at length about how the judge is out to get him and the AG is out to get him,” Rodgers said. “So the question is, I don’t know that he’ll just be smug. I mean, he may explode tomorrow.”
Any such vitriol would be damaging to Trump, who is facing the possibility of a $250 million judgement against him, Rodgers added.
“So one question is, if it goes poorly on direct tomorrow with the attorney general’s staff questioning him, will his lawyers cross-examine him, quote-unquote, cross-examine him to try to rehabilitate him in the eyes of the judge?”
The failed, one-term ex-president has already been fined $15,000 by New York Justice Arthur Engoron for violating a court-imposed gag order. He could also be found in contempt of court if he lashes out during his Monday testimony.
The New York case is a civil matter, meaning Trump only faces financial penalties for bank and tax fraud. However, he could be sentenced to stiff prison time in federal cases pending against him for mishandling classified documents and illegally attempting to overturn the 2016 election.
