Former President Donald Trump has chosen not to testify in his criminal hush money trial on Tuesday, swiftly bringing his defense to a conclusion and setting the stage for jury deliberations next week.
Donald Trump Chooses Not to Take the Witness Stand in Hush Money Trial
According to Reuters, Donald Trump's decision ended speculations about whether he would take the stand to defend himself against 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
If he had testified, Trump might have convinced the jury that his actions were intended to protect his family from public embarrassment rather than to hide the story of his alleged sexual affair with Daniels to sway the 2016 election.
However, it could also expose him to probing questions from prosecutors and be at risk of perjury if he lied under oath.
Donald Trump Enters Not Guilty Plea
Last year, Donald Trump was reprimanded by the judge in his civil fraud trial about his New York business after he complained of unfair treatment and proclaimed that he had "a lot of cash" while on the witness stand.
The judge ultimately ordered the former president to pay $355 million in penalties. Such behavior in the hush money trial could have alienated the jurors. Retired New York judge George Grasso told Reuters last week that Trump "could tank his whole case with one outburst."
Trump has pleaded not guilty in April and denied he had sex with Stormy Daniels. However, the porn star recounted the sexual encounter she said she had with the former president in 2006 when she testified.
During her first day of testimony earlier this month, Daniels provided a detailed and explicit account of the sexual encounter that happened in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite.
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