(NewsNation) — Former President Donald Trump, now also a convicted felon, said during a news conference Friday he wanted to testify in his criminal hush money trial but was discouraged by his legal team.
Speaking in front of Trump Tower in New York the day after the unprecedented verdict in his trial, Trump said he ultimately decided not to testify because it would have allowed lawyers to dig into everything he’s ever done, and that the judge wanted to go into every detail.
“I would have liked to have testified,” he said. “But you would have said something out of whack like ‘it was a beautiful sunny day,’ and it was actually raining out.”
While defense lawyers can advise a client one way or the other about testifying in their own defense, the decision is ultimately up to the defendant.
Trump announced his team would be appealing the verdict, as expected.
In his remarks, the former president railed against the gag order in the case, which prevents him from attacking court employees — who are not politically appointed or elected — or the families of those involved. He repeated claims that the case was part of a conspiracy and that Judge Juan Merchan was biased, though both of those claims have been disputed.
“We’re going to be appealing it on many different things. He wouldn’t allow us to have witnesses, he wouldn’t allow us to talk, he wouldn’t allow us to do anything. The judge was a tyrant,” Trump said.
Trump attacked Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg along with Merchan, accusing them of ruining people’s lives with their work in the justice system. He also continued to profess his innocence, saying his actions were not criminal.
“It’s not hush money. It’s a nondisclosure agreement, totally legal, totally common,” he said.
The jury reached the verdict Thursday after nearly 12 hours of deliberation over two days, alerting Merchan to their decision just before they were set to be dismissed for the day. Trump’s sentencing has been set for July 11, where he could face up to 20 years in jail or be given a lighter sentence, with options including fines, probation, home detention and community service.
Trump railed against the verdict immediately after exiting the Manhattan courthouse where the trial had been held, calling it a political witch hunt and blaming President Joe Biden for the case. His campaign sent out fundraising emails after the verdict, raising $34.8 million, an amount the campaign said was almost double the biggest day of donations recorded.
The criminal case was the first of four against Trump to go to trial and may be the only one to be decided before the election in November. The case centered around hush money payments made to Playboy model Karen McDougal and adult film star Stormy Daniels who said they had affairs with Trump and were paid to stay quiet ahead of the 2016 election. Trump then allegedly paid his former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen back for the payments.
Trump was charged with 34 counts related to falsifying business records to conceal damaging information from voters ahead of the election. Cohen previously pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws for orchestrating or making the hush money payments.
Trump’s conviction does not prohibit him from running for or holding office. Depending on how things play out, however, it may prevent him from being able to vote for himself in November.
