Kaitlan Collins Says Trump’s Attorneys Were Blindsided When Judge Called Him to the Witness Stand
CNN’s Kaitlan Collins said she can “guarantee” that Donald Trump’s legal team did not anticipate him being called to the witness stand on Wednesday in his civil fraud trial in New York.
Michael Cohen – Trump’s former attorney – testified for a second day in a row as a state witness against his former boss. At one point, the former president emerged from the courtroom and railed to reporters against Cohen without naming him, saying the person sitting next to the judge was “very partisan.”
“President Trump, did you violate the gag order just now?” a reporter asked.
Later, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump to the witness stand and asked him who he was talking about. Displeased with Trump’s responses, Engoron fined him $10,000 for violating the gag order.
Trump later stormed out of the court unexpectedly, prompting his Secret Service detail to scramble out of the courtroom after him. The former president again slammed the proceedings against him.
Appearing on Wednesday’s AC360 on CNN, Collins was asked about the trial, whose participants Trump has regularly maligned, but without being called to the witness stand – until Wednesday.
“Kaitlan, any sense on how this is going over in the Trump orbit?” Anderson Cooper asked.
“I mean, I can guarantee you that when they all woke up this morning – Trump’s legal team and Trump himself – they did not think he would be actually called to the stand today. But, this is a result of nearly every day when he has gone into the courtroom here in Manhattan, he has spoken to reporters, railing against the attorney general here in New York, going off on the judge, of course – what the judge believed going off on one of his law clerks again today after he already posted pictures of her. That was the reason he got that first fine.”
The $10,000 fine comes just days after Engoron fined Trump $5,000 for violating the same order after the former president verbally attacked court staff. Engoron imposed the gag earlier this month when Trump posted a “disparaging” post on social media about a member of his staff.
Last month, Engoron found Trump and the Trump Organization liable for fraud in a partial summary judgment. New York Attorney General Letitia James alleges that the company overstated the value of his assets in order to obtain more favorable loan terms. However, for tax purposes, James claims Trump underreported them.
Watch above via CNN.
