Former President Donald Trump changed his mind about testifying this week as the final witness for his defense in his New York civil fraud trial.
In an all-caps post on his Truth Social platform, the former president declared Sunday afternoon that he had “ALREADY TESTIFIED TO EVERYTHING & HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY.” He also, without evidence, called the trial election interference against his reelection bid.
The former president’s attorneys previously said he would testify Monday as they fight a case from the New York Attorney General’s Office accusing Trump and others of engaging in various forms of fraud in his real estate empire. Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled Trump fraudulently inflated the value of his assets on financial statements, and his companies will lose state business certificates.
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The judge is now determining whether Trump and others, including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, engaged in other forms of fraud, as well as potential punishments. The New York Attorney General’s Office has asked the judge to ban Trump and his adult sons from running a New York company and order the defendants to pay an estimated $250 million in allegedly ill-gotten gains.
Before Sunday, there were some signs Trump’s testimony was uncertain. His lawyers had previously indicated his son, Eric Trump, would testify last week, but he failed to take the stand.
An appeals court also reinstated a gag order that prohibited Donald Trump from commenting on court personnel. Engoron fined the former president a combined $15,000 after concluding he violated the order multiple times.
