‘This Judge Is Gonna Drop the Hammer on Trump’: CNN’s Elie Honig Has Grave Prediction for Ex-President

After covering the second of the two big legal stories facing former President Donald Trump — Special Counsel Jack Smith’s bluff-calling appeal to the Supreme Court in the federal election fraud case — CNN’s Jake Tapper turned to contributor Alyssa Farah Griffin and legal analyst Elie Honig to discuss the civil fraud case in New York City, and Honig had a stormy forecast for Trump.

Trump was scheduled to testify in that case on Monday, but bailed at the last minute, railing in an all-caps Truth Social post that he “VERY SUCCESSFULLY & CONCLUSIVELY TESTIFIED IN THE CORRUPT, BIDEN DIRECTED, NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL’S RIGGED TRIAL AGAINST ME.” (This, after his lawyer claimed that Trump was “not afraid” to testify.)

Farah Griffin, a former staffer for Trump, told Tapper that she had a feeling Trump wouldn’t show up and noted that it was likely that “people around him said it will do [him] more harm than good.”

When Tapper asked Honig how he thought Judge Arthur Engoron would ultimately rule on the damages Trump would have to pay, Honig predicted a heavy hand:

Well, he’s already tipped his hand because he already ruled against Trump on one of the seven causes of action before the trial started. I think he’s going to find against Trump on many or all of the remaining counts. He’s shown no interest, no buying into Donald Trump’s defenses. And then the big question is, what’s the penalty? How much money, how much of the 250 million that the attorney general is seeking, and most importantly, will the judge revoke Donald Trump’s business certificates? I think this judge is going to drop the hammer on Donald Trump and then he will get to appeal.

Watch the video above via CNN.