Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman has claimed that former President Donald Trump is “toast” in his New York civil fraud case. Ackerman claimed it would be a “stupid move” for Trump to testify in the case after pleading the Fifth Amendment in a deposition for the case last summer. Akerman said that the public’s attention is divided between the former president’s testimony and his deposition for Attorney General Letitia James last summer, during which he used the Fifth Amendment more than four hundred times.
Nick Akerman, Former Watergate prosecutor on Trump’s fraud trial: “Donald Trump is toast. He’s basically going to be found to be a liar by the judge…He took the Fifth Amendment over 400 times…It means that you’re refusing to answer a question because a truthful answer would… pic.twitter.com/2TsGFSuyjT
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) November 9, 2023
According to CNN , Akerman started by saying, “Basically, at this point, Donald Trump is toast. I mean, he is basically going to be found to be a liar by the judge here. What people haven’t focused on is not just his testimony last week, but it’s also the testimony he gave in his deposition where he took the 5th Amendment over 400 times.”
He further explained, “Now what does it mean to take the Fifth Amendment? It means that you are refusing to answer a question, because a truthful answer would tend to be incriminating, Then what did Donald Trump do last week? He went into court and said, ‘Oh, I didn’t do anything fraudulent, I wasn’t involved in a fraud.’ Which is just the opposite of what in effect he was saying when he took the Fifth Amendment in his deposition.” Ackerman accused Trump of “manipulating the system” and added, “So you’ve got contradictory testimony, you can use his assertion of the Fifth Amendment against him to basically find that he’s lying, that he’s manipulating the system when he goes in, refuses to answer questions, answers the questions in a half-baked manner.”
Trump hiding behind the 5th in his deposition – that a truthful answer would tend to incriminate him -coupled with his answers to the same questions in court that he did not commit fraud is a blatant manipulation of the law that will result in a big fine. https://t.co/oegEu1o2VP
— Nick Akerman (@nickakerman) November 8, 2023
On Monday, the former U.S. president spent about four hours on the witness stand at his civil fraud trial in New York, using the opportunity to brag about his fortune and strike out at the judge presiding over the case. Trump said that several of his showpiece properties’ estimated values provided by his firm to banks were inaccurate. He claimed that some of his assets were overpriced, including Trump Tower in New York and his Seven Springs home north of the city, while others, such as his Mar-a-Lago mansion and Doral golf course in Florida, were undervalued, per CNN .
As reported by The Hill , throughout the course of the former president’s testimony, Engoron and Trump argued back and forth many times. He also attacked the judge and said, “I’m sure the judge will rule against me because he always rules against me.” The morning was spent with Engoron repeatedly objecting to Trump’s political remarks and hits on the judge in his long-winded answers to the state’s queries.
Trump stated, “This is a very unfair trial, very, very unfair, and I hope the public is watching.” The former president went on a tirade during his testimony, labeling the court and the New York attorney general “frauds” and “political hacks.” He raised his voice, “It’s a disgrace that a case like this is going on; all you have to do is read the legal scholars — the papers — and you’ll know. This is a political witch hunt.”