Topline
Prosecutors plan to ask former President Donald Trump about a slew of his past legal issues if he testifies at his ongoing criminal trial, they said in a court filing Wednesday, though it still remains unclear whether the ex-president will take the stand during the trial as he faces 34 felony counts.
Key Facts
Prosecutors with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, which brought the charges against Trump, listed a series of “misconduct and criminal acts” by Trump that weren’t mentioned in the indictment, but they plan to ask Trump about if he testifies in order to “impeach [his] credibility.”
The filing—known as a “Sandoval” notice, named after a 1974 court case—lists six cases that have previously been brought against Trump or his company.
Among the cases listed are the recent civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, in which Trump and his business associates were found liable for misstating the value of assets on financial documents for personal gain, and the two cases brought against Trump by writer E. Jean Carroll, in which he was found liable for defamation and sexual assault.
Prosecutors also list Trump’s failed lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, which resulted in him and lawyer Alina Habba being ordered to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions for bringing a “frivolous” case, and a lawsuit that resulted in the 2018 dissolution of Trump’s foundation and a $2 million campaign finance violation, after the New York attorney general’s office accused the foundation of “functioning as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests.”
The only criminal case on the list is the recent tax fraud case brought against the Trump Organization—but not Trump personally—in which the company was ordered to pay $1.6 million for evading taxes by paying executives through off-the-books gifts.
Trump’s spokesperson Steven Cheung has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Will Trump Testify?
Trump told reporters Friday he planned to take the stand, claiming, “All I can do is tell the truth. And the truth is that there’s no case.” But whether that will actually pan out still remains to be seen: The New York Times reports Trump and his lawyers are likely to wait until Merchan has determined the scope of prosecutors’ questioning before they make a final decision on Trump’s testimony, given that him testifying could be legally risky.
What To Watch For
Prosecutors won’t necessarily be able to ask about all those cases at trial, as it’s still up to Judge Juan Merchan, who’s presiding over the case, to make the final determination on what the prosecution can and can’t ask. Jury selection is now underway in the criminal trial, with opening arguments slated to begin Monday once the full jury is chosen. The proceedings are expected to last for approximately six weeks once opening arguments get underway.
Big Number
$557 million. That’s approximately how much Trump, his co-defendants and his company have been ordered to pay in total as a result of the six cases named in prosecutors’ filing Wednesday. That includes a $464.2 million judgment in the civil fraud case, $5 million in his first trial against Carroll, $83.3 million in his second trial against Carroll, $1.6 million in the tax fraud case, approximately $938,000 in sanctions from the Clinton case, and a $2 million penalty for using the Trump Foundation to benefit his 2016 campaign. The amount does not include interest.
Key Background
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the Manhattan case, which is one of four criminal cases against the former president and the first to go to trial. Prosecutors indicted Trump based on allegedly misleading reimbursement payments he made to ex-attorney Michael Cohen after the lawyer paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 right before the 2016 election to cover up allegations of an affair. Trump then paid Cohen $420,000—covering the Daniels payment, a separate expense, a $60,000 bonus and enough to cover taxes on the payment—through a series of incremental payments made throughout 2017. Prosecutors allege those payments were made through the Trump Organization and falsely labeled as legal payments, while Trump and his lawyers have maintained they were personal checks that did not run afoul of the law. Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, which he has decried as a “witch hunt.”
