Former president Donald Trump’s scheduled testimony in the New York fraud trail that could lead to the collapse of the Trump Organization was abruptly canceled on Sunday, with the ex-president announcing on social media that he wouldn’t be offering any defense of the charges against him.
On his failing Truth Social site, Trump wrote:
“I have already testified to everything & have nothing more to say other than this is a complete & total election interference (Biden campaign!) witch hunt,” so “I will not be testifying on Monday.”
The actual reason, according to Forbes reporter Dan Alexander can be explained with one word: Perjury.
Trump and his attorneys are terrified that any testimony he gives would open him to additional charges of lying under oath, which led to the reversal.
“Trump blamed others for getting it wrong,” Alexander noted on Twitter. “Then, after Trump testified, we at Forbes released an audio clip–which had not previously been made public–showing him personally lying about the square footage of his penthouse, claiming it was 33,000 square feet.”
Alexander gave another example of how prosecutors working for New York Attorney General Letitia James would have tried to get the ex-president to commit perjury.
“Take 40 Wall Street. In his earlier testimony, the state asked Trump: ‘Have you ever inflated the operating income of 40 Wall Street?’ Trump, when asked if he had ever inflated the operating income at 40 Wall Street, replied: ‘Not that I know of.’ But he has, by egregious amounts. We have that on tape, too.”
Trump has already lost the civil case brought by AG James. All that remains is for Judge Arthur Engoron to attach a monetary penalty for the bank, insurance, and tax fraud he allegedly committed. James is asking the court for a judgement of $250 million.
