A last-minute announcement scrapping plans to testify at his New York civil fraud trial. A “Commit to Caucus” event in Iowa on Wednesday. A rally in New Hampshire next weekend.
Donald Trump’s schedule just weeks before the Iowa caucuses offers a preview of the balancing act the former president and his team will face over the next several months, when a series of other trials centered on Trump are slated to begin during the height of the primary election season.
On the eve of his expected testimony, the former president said Sunday that he is no longer planning to take the stand in the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is suing him for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. He’d sat in on the trial last week.
Trump’s decision to back out of his planned testimony presents fresh questions over how the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination will handle future legal obligations next year – when a series of his other trials, some of which may require him to take the stand, are scheduled to begin during the height of the campaign.
Trump was slated to be called Monday as the final witness for the defense and testify against allegations that he fraudulently inflated the value of his properties after he was questioned by prosecutors last month. The former president, who continues to argue the charges against him have no merit and are a political hit job, had planned to treat the court appearance like another stop on the campaign trail, sources familiar with his preparations told CNN.
Trump attorney Alina Habba told reporters last week that his legal team had advised him against taking the stand but said he was adamant about testifying because he feels so strongly about the case. He “is not afraid. … President Trump does not cower,” Habba said.
However on…
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