Donald Trump Reveals Why He Didn't Testify

Former President Donald Trump has explained his decision to change course on testifying in his New York civil fraud trial.

Trump, who is being sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James for $250 million, announced on Sunday that he was canceling plans to testify for a second time in the trial, arguing in a series of Truth Social posts that he had already "successfully and conclusively testified" during his first time on the stand.

In addition to the civil trial, Trump faces over 91 felony counts across four separate criminal cases. He denies wrongdoing in all cases, claiming to be the victim of political "persecution" and "election interference" while campaigning as the leading Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

The former president elaborated on his reasoning for backing out of the second testimony in a new post on Tuesday. Trump suggested that he would be unable to defend himself due to an appellate court allowing gag orders from New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the trial, to go back into effect after they were briefly frozen last month.

"I wanted to testify on Monday, despite the fact that I already testified successfully, answering all questions having to do with the Fake, No Victims, No Jury lawsuit, thrown at me by the Corrupt Racist A.G., Letitia James, and presided over by a Trump hating judge who suffers from a massive case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, and is a puppet for the CROOKED A.G.," Trump wrote.

"Anyway, the Judge, Arthur Engoron, put a GAG ORDER on me, even when I testify, totally taking away my constitutional right to defend myself," he continued. "We are appealing, but how would you like to be a witness and not be allowed free snd honest speech. THE TRIAL IS RIGGED. I DID NOTHING WRONG!!!"

Newsweek reached out for comment to the offices of Trump and James via email on Tuesday.

James' lawsuit accuses Trump, along with his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization, of committing fraud by illegally inflating assets on financial statements to obtain benefits like favorable business loans.

Engoron has already found the ex-president liable for one count of fraud in a summary judgment, with the trial continuing to determine several other counts and the extent of any penalties.

Trump, who previously launched repeated attacks on the court's law clerk Allison Greenfield, is barred from speaking about court staff under the gag order. He remains free to criticize both Engoron and James.

With the former president having already been fined by Engoron for twice breaking the order, some legal experts have suggested that he may effectively be sparing himself from time behind bars by deciding to forgo a second round of testimony.

Attorney Joe Gallina said that there was "no way Donald's testimony wouldn't have landed him in jail" in a quote posted to the Substack of the ex-president's estranged niece Mary Trump this week, speculating that he "would have faced Engoron's wrath" due to the gag order.

New York-based trial lawyer Colleen Kerwick has also argued that Trump was wise to avoid taking the stand for a second time, saying that he would have been risking "jail time" if he had testified while the order remained intact.