Maybe Trump knows what he's doing

Testifying in this stupid trial works if it gets him elected president

Politico reported, “On the eve of his criminal trial, Donald Trump told reporters in Florida that he would take the stand and testify if necessary. ‘All I can do is tell the truth,’ Trump proclaimed.

“That boast is about to be put to the test, as Trump and his defense team decide in the coming days whether to present him as a witness.

“But among legal experts and even Trump’s political allies, there’s already a unanimous verdict: He would be a fool to testify.”

Oh, would he?

The story said, “His Republican backers say the New York trial is a sham and prosecutors haven’t proven their case — so why bother? Former prosecutors say he would open himself up to all sorts of damaging questions, from whether he had sex with porn star Stormy Daniels to alleged fraudulent business practices and inquiries about his honesty that could be political and legal landmines.”

OK. My readers and I get the picture. The unnamed experts cited by Politico agree that shutting up would reduce his chance of getting convicted and *gasp* a prison sentence.

And for most defendants, avoiding cross examination is a good thing because good prosecutors can slice and dice you. But Donald Trump is not like most defendants and the Manhattan prosecutors do not exude intelligence or competence.

Yes, if he testifies, his odds of a conviction would go up.

All the way from 99% to 99.9%.

After twice being railroaded by a New York judge and jury, a third railroading is inevitable. The evidence doesn’t matter. He is not on trial for 34 tedious counts of election violations and bad bookkeeping. He is on trial for being Donald John Trump.

Guilty as charged.

But The Donald’s goal is not to avoid prison. His goal is to return to the Oval Office in January. Once you understand that, you see the logic behind having him testify because he makes himself defiant and worthy of our respect and admiration.

Recall that a year ago, Democrats and their handmaidens — a polite way of saying massage parlor girls — in the media drooled over the prospect of seeing Donald Trump in a mugshot. They convinced themselves that a mugshot would ruin him and hand the nomination to Ron DeSantis.

Much to their chagrin, there was no happy ending. Democrats and the media watched helplessly as the mugshot improved Trump’s poll numbers because it made him a sympathetic victim of a rigged criminal justice system.

BBC said, “Donald Trump still rewriting laws of politics after Georgia arrest.”

Indeed. Be careful of what you wish for.

The Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post reported (scroll way down), “When asked in August about Trump’s mugshot, President Biden said he saw it on television. ‘Handsome guy. Wonderful guy,’ he added sarcastically.”

You don’t have to be Connie Francis to ask, “Who’s Sorry Now?”

The stories on Trump testifying assume two things. The first being that he has a chance of acquittal. Ha! The other assumption is that he will be sent to prison if convicted. Oh?

Politico said, “Trump, who has violated a gag order 10 times and has been threatened with jail time if he defies it again, is notorious for speaking his mind even when it’s not in his best interests. When Daniels testified for the prosecution earlier this month, Trump was cursing loudly enough that Justice Juan Merchan told the former president’s lawyer to tell him to cool it.”

So Merchan has had 10 chances to jail him and passed on each one. Merchan is not being Mister Nice Guy; he is being pragmatic and partisan. If that mugshot was the portrait worth $10 million in donations, a photo of Trump in a cell could bring in a billion and a landslide on Election Night.

If I see it in Poca, West Virginia, you can be sure a very stable genius like Trump can see it sitting in the courtroom.

The press is begging Trump not to testify — and we all know how sincerely the American press wants what is in the best for President Trump.

Katie Phang at MSNBC wrote “You’d think it’s a no-brainer that Trump would not testify. After all, the burden of proof is always on the prosecution: proving a criminal defendant’s guilt beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt. And that makes sense. An individual’s liberty is at stake and thus not only must the verdict be unanimous, the burden of proof must be met by the prosecution to secure a conviction.

“Even if Trump’s team were to put on an expert witness, as we have heard might be the case, that decision does not obligate Trump to then take the stand. It bears repeating that there is no requirement that he testify in his own defense. Human nature militates toward the idea of hearing from both sides, especially in a case where the prosecution’s two star witnesses, Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen, have provided quite damning testimony thus far against Trump. Jurors often want to hear from the defense to be able to weigh, in their own estimations, whether the two sides can be reconciled and if not, who has won that battle of stories.”

That was an odd comment to make because technically, he is not on trial for having sex with a prostitute. He is not on trial for paying her off. He is on trial for somehow violating federal election rules by paying off an extortionist. I am not really sure how that works and I doubt jurors do either.

But the Soros-funded DA — Alvin Bragg — succeeded in making the case about the prostitute and the Democrat judge duly allowed this. Jurors got to hear her describe Trump’s penis.

As the outcome of this show trial already is determined, why not use it as a mugshot? Trump could take the stand and eat the prosecution alive.

Which explains why the press wants him to keep his mouth shut.

The Wall Street Journal reported, “Politically, taking the stand might offer Trump the chance to project strength and defiance in the face of a prosecution he has decried as illegitimate. But legal experts believe the presumptive GOP presidential nominee faces peril if he is grilled about his alleged sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels and his treatment of women.

“Manhattan prosecutors are expected to rest their case in the week ahead, shifting the focus to Trump’s defense. His lawyers plan to call few, if any, witnesses. Twice this past week, they have told the judge that Trump is undecided about testifying.

“Lawyers uninvolved in the case said Trump’s legal team would be wise to advise him against it, especially because he isn’t in a desperate position where a conviction is a foregone conclusion.”

A conviction is not a foregone conclusion?

That’s news to Judge Merchan.

If testifying helps Trump win the election, do it. If not, don’t.

* * *

In Monday’s newsletter, I rounded up the wins we scored over the weekend, but I didn’t include the biggest one — a helicopter crash that killed Iran’s president.

It reminded me of that Donovan song, “First there is a mountain, then there is no mountain, then there SPLAT!”