Trump soon rejected a request to testify at his indictment
(CNN) –– Former President Donald Trump will not testify during his second indictment, and former Trump adviser Jason Miller was asked by CNN to testify at the indictment after he was appointed to the requested process on Thursday.
“The president will not testify in an unconstitutional process,” Miller said.
Attorneys for the indictment are taking drastic action to try to document Trump’s behavior surrounding the January 6 riots in Capitol Hill.
But Trump’s legal team quickly dismissed the allegations. In this way, it puts the decision on whether or not to force Trump to testify with a sap into the hands of Democrats.
Chief Prosecutor, Jamie Raskin, Sent a letter to the lawyer Trump this Thursday. In that letter, he asked Trump to testify before or after the next indictment, which begins Tuesday. Ruskin argued that the testimony of the former president was necessary after questioning the council’s allegations that Capitol Hill had instigated the uprising.
“Two days ago, you filed a response in which you denied many of the factual allegations established in the indictment,” Ruskin wrote. “Therefore, he sought to challenge important facts despite the clear and overwhelming evidence of his constitutional guilt. In light of your challenge to these factual allegations, I write to invite you to testify before the Senate indictment or under your oath of office on January 6, 2021,” the Democratic Party of Maryland said. Continued.
Trump’s lawyers responded to Ruskin’s request Thursday. They wrote in a three-paragraph letter that the move was an indication that the House could not prove the allegations against Trump.
Trump lawyers Bruce Custer and David Schoen wrote, “Our constitution is so serious about trying to play these games of so-called indictment.”
Senior advisers persuaded Trump not to go to the House of Representatives in January to defend himself before his second indictment. He also considered being charged for the first time with a similar tactic.
The hasty rejection of Trump’s demand to testify to the allegations raises the question of whether Democrats will try to attack him. A sapona is not mentioned in the House letter. Instead, Ruskin suggested that the indictment managers use their denial against him: “We reserve any and all rights, including the right to establish at trial that your refusal to testify supports a strong negative assumption about his actions.”
Asked if he would do Sapona if Trump refused to show up, Ruskin declined to comment.
At the first indictment, Democrats testified to John Bolten, Trump’s former national security adviser, and not to the president. But an attempt to quote Bolton failed. At the time, Republicans voted against asking witnesses at the trial before Trump was released.
The question of whether House prosecutors will look for witnesses has been in the air since the indictment began. Senators from both parties have called for a speedy process for the Senate to move forward and act on President Joe Biden’s agenda. But prosecution lawyers and Speaker Nancy Pelosi remained silent on the matter from witnesses until Thursday’s letter.
Senators from both parties rejected the idea.
Senator Joe Munchin, a moderate Democrat from West Virginia, called it a “pantomime.” Sen. Chris Coons, de-Delaware, called it a “terrible idea.”
“Don’t you know President Trump?” Coons told reporters when asked in detail about his response.
Sen., a Republican from South Carolina and a close ally of the former president. Lindsay Graham said Trump’s testimony was not in “anyone’s interest.”
“It’s a political honor to do this, they did not invite it to church,” Graham said.
Trump’s confession during his Senate indictment will be a major media moment in the process, but it is unclear whether it will change the outcome of the investigation. Forty-five of the 50 Republican senators voted last week to dismiss the indictment. Based on what it does against a former president Unconstitutional.
Pelosi was asked Thursday whether House prosecutors are going to release Trump because of the vote. The Democrat leader specifically responded: “They don’t know it.”
“Why don’t we wait and let them report their case?” Pelosi added. “If we do not continue with this, we can remove any permission from the constitution,” he added.
The House of Representatives accused Trump of inciting a revolt in Capitol Hill last month. In a pre-indictment filed Tuesday, prosecutors called the former president “exclusively responsible” for the deadly riots. They said Trump’s actions in spreading false conspiracy theories that elections were rigged prompted his supporters to attack Capitol. Therefore, to change the peaceful transfer of power by preventing Congress from certifying for elections.
Trump’s lawyers argued on Tuesday that the Senate indictment was unconstitutional. According to their argument, Trump is no longer president and has not provoked protesters. The former president’s legal team also argued that Trump’s speech was protected by the First Amendment. He added that Trump’s false claims about the election could not be proven wrong.
In a letter Thursday, Ruskin asked Trump to testify from Monday to Thursday next week. The trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.
CNN’s Guidlon Collins and Jim Acosta contributed to the report.