Donald Trump's Lawyers Will Struggle to Hold Him Back

Former President Donald Trump's lawyers won't be able stop him from making political speeches at his New York fraud trial next week, a legal expert said.

Defense lawyers are not allowed to ask leading questions in civil cases, allowing Trump to deliver long-winded, open-ended answers, New York University law professor Stephen Gillers told Newsweek.

"The opportunity for Trump-style speechifying is great because the defense lawyers cannot ask leading questions, as the state's lawyers did when the state called the same witnesses," Gillers said. "That means the defense lawyers' questions will be open-ended by comparison, which creates platforms for long-winded answers that include irrelevant information."

Leading questions are those that can be answered with a "yes" or "no," such as "Did you sign this document?" Lawyers representing the New York Attorney General Letitia James were allowed to ask leading questions when Trump was called as the attorney general's witness on November 6.

Even then, there were angry exchanges between Trump's lawyers and Judge Arthur Engoron, who accused Trump of making speeches from the witness stand and said he would dismiss Trump as a witness if his lawyers didn't rein him in.

That tension is likely to be amplified when Trump gives defense evidence after the Thanksgiving break as his lawyers are forbidden from asking him "yes" or "no" questions about the financial transactions at the center of the case. Gillers said that once Trump goes off subject, "the state will object and the judge can interrupt and strike the answer if he agrees."

Trump, his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as the Trump Organization, are co-defendants in the $250 million civil fraud trial brought by James, who is accusing the former president of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills.

In September, Engoron ruled that Trump, his adult sons, their businesses and executives committed fraud in their property valuations. The court will decide on six other accusations, including falsifying business records, insurance fraud and conspiracy claims.

The former president has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing. Trump has repeatedly claimed the litigation was politically motivated.

Newsweek reached out to Trump's legal team by email on Monday morning for comment.

While Trump was testifying on November 6, he accused Engoron of being among the Trump haters who were out to get him.

"You and every other Democrat district attorney, A.G., and U.S. attorneys were coming at me from 15 different sides, all Democrats, all haters," Trump told the judge.

Engoron angrily accused him of making speeches from the witness stand and threatened to dismiss him as a witness.

Trump's chief attorney, Christopher Kise, stood up and told the judge: "With this witness, it's far more efficient to listen and take it all in."

Engoron snapped at Kise: "No! I'm not here to hear what he has to say. I'm here to hear him answer questions. Sit down!"

Engoron then told Kise that he'd better rein in Trump's speech making.

"We got another speech," Engoron said. "I beseech you to control him if you can. If you can't, I will. I will excuse him and draw every negative inference that I can."