Conservative attorney George Conway suggested on Monday why Donald Trump may want to think twice about pleading the Fifth Amendment when he takes the stand in his civil fraud trial in New York.
The former president pleaded the Fifth more than 400 times during deposition in the case last year.
It “sounds guilty,” Conway told MSNBC’s Jen Psaki.
Why? Well, Conway explained, “the problem” for Trump is that defendants in criminal cases don’t have to testify against themselves, and guilt can’t be inferred from that refusal.
But in civil cases, he continued, the defendant’s silence can prompt the judge or jury to believe they “must have committed a crime, he thinks he did something wrong,” and the jury can “be instructed to make an adverse finding on the questions” the defendant refused to answer.
“Sounds guilty if you take the Fifth,” Psaki summarized.
“Sounds guilty,” Conway agreed.
Psaki asked Conway if Trump would be “on edge” about his children and business associates — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — taking the stand before Judge Arthur Engoron in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit, which alleges the GOP presidential candidate frontrunner and the Trump Organization for years overvalued its assets.
“I think he’s going to be on edge hearing them admit that they didn’t have a basis for things or saying that daddy told me to do it,” replied Conway. “That’s what I would be worried about if I were him, but I don’t know what they’re going to say.”
Conway also broke down the “death blow” that Trump’s business empire could be about to face from the trial. It could force Trump to sell off his assets — including his prized Mar-a-Lago home and resort in Palm Beach, Florida — if an earlier decision by Engoron banning Trump from conducting business in New York state is upheld.
Trump would have to “liquidate everything, including places like Mar-a-Lago, which are owned by New York LLCs,” he explained.
Watch Conway’s comments here: