Legal Analysts Predict How Trump Will Walk Back His Pledge to Testify: ‘That’s an Out for Him’

Legal experts on CNN aren’t believing Donald Trump when he says he will testify in his criminal trial in Manhattan.

After ranting at reporters upon the adjournment of court for the day, one asked Trump if he plans to testify.

“Yes,” the former president replied in what was a reiteration of what he told reporters last week before his trial began on Monday.

He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments. Prosecutors say the money was meant to conceal extramarital affairs Trump had before the 2016 election.

On Friday’s AC360, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and company discussed the prospect of Trump testifying. Former federal Judge John E. Jones predicted that when it comes time for the defense to put on its case, Trump will claim Judge Juan Merchan has been unfair to him by allowing in evidence from the former president’s civil defamation and fraud cases.

“You could imagine that former President Trump would say, ‘Well, you know, I was gonna testify, but this corrupt judge is letting all this evidence in that’s irrelevant, cases that I have on appeal and so forth. And unfortunately, I can testify because he done me wrong,’ so to speak. That’s an out for him if he wants to take it.”

CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig agreed.

“It would be disastrous,” he said of Trump testifying. “It would allow in all these other things that the jury, by the way, won’t otherwise hear about. They’re not gonna hear about E Jean Carroll and the civil fraud case. Plus, he will be grilled on this case itself. And let me just make another prediction. When the moment comes, what I think what he’ll say – in addition to what Judge Jones said – is, ‘I’m eager to testify, but my lawyers told me that we did such a good job tearing down the government’s case, that there’s no need. And that’s what I’m gonna do.'”

Watch above via CNN.