Trump lawyer argues former president would be ‘compelling witness’ in hush money trial

One of former President Donald Trump’s lawyers argued Sunday that Trump ought to take the witness stand in his hush money trial, claiming that he would be a “compelling witness.”

The comments from lawyer Will Scharf come a day before the trial is scheduled to begin on Monday, which relates to Trump’s 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide an alleged hush money payment to former pornography film star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Michael Cohen, a former attorney to Trump, has expressed skepticism of the former president taking the stand during this trial, claiming that it’s “not going to happen.”

“I think that’s going to be a decision for President Trump and the trial team depending on how the trial progresses,” Scharf said on Fox News Sunday. “I would say that I think if he does take the stand, President Trump would be a compelling witness. He did nothing wrong here. The truth is absolutely on his side, so that’s a decision that’s going to have to be made down the road, but one way or another, I have full confidence in both President Trump and the team that he has around him.”

Scharf also discussed the start of jury selection on Monday, and stressed the importance of getting a politically neutral jury for this trial, especially as the United States is at “the height of election season.” Besides the 34 counts of falsifying business records, Trump is facing dozens of other indictments while also seeking another run for the White House in the 2024 presidential election.

On Friday, Trump stated that he intends to testify during this trail, and plans to “tell the truth” while on the witness stand. He also stated that the prosecutors in this trial “have no case” against him.

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The former president’s commitment to testify comes after he has tried to get out of testifying in legal cases in the past. In his civil fraud case, Trump had said he would testify, but then pulled his testimony the day before he had been scheduled to appear; he was later called to the stand by the prosecution, during which he attempted to avoid giving direct answers, causing the judge to question his credibility.

Ahead of this trial, Trump attempted to delay the trial’s start three times this past week. The third attempt was declined by a New York appeals court on Wednesday.