Donald Trump received legal counsel from one of his former attorneys live on television on Wednesday, and it didn’t cost the ex-president a penny.
Timothy Parlatore, who quit Trump’s legal team in his classified documents case in May over strategy disagreements, explained to CNN’s Jake Tapper why Trump’s boast that he’d “absolutely” be willing to take the stand and testify in front of a jury during one of his upcoming trials would likely backfire.
“Personally, I don’t like any of my clients taking the stand in a criminal case,” Parlatore explained. “It’s not something they’re required to do and I have not generally had any clients take the stand unless they first undergo a very rigorous cross-examination by me and pass.”
“More times than not, when they’re going through that process, they’ll say ‘Tim, stop, time out, I don’t believe myself. I’m not testifying,’” he added. “I can’t see it being a good idea here.”
Tapper recalled Trump’s deposition in writer E. Jean Carroll’s civil case against the former president, in which she accused him of raping her in a Manhattan department store in the 1990s.
During his videotaped testimony, Trump confused Carroll for his second wife Marla Maples in a photo and defended his infamous “Access Hollywood” tape remarks. A jury found Trump liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll.
Tapper suggested putting Trump on the stand to defend himself “would be risky.”
“It is,” he said. “And that’s kind of an illustration of why. It’s an uncontrolled environment, you don’t necessarily know what the client will say, even a very well-practiced client can say things they will regret after the fact.”
“A trial is a presentation for the jury where you’re going to control it as much as you can and that’s an uncontrollable risk, try to avoid it,” the lawyer added, noting Trump still has the right to do it, even if his lawyers say it’s the “worst idea in the world.”
Republican 2024 front-runner Trump has also been indicted in the Stormy Daniels hush money case and over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election result nationwide and in Georgia.
He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.