Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy said Friday that he would have liked to see President-elect Donald Trump testify in his New York trial following his sentencing hearing.
Trump appeared virtually at the hearing, during which Merchan sentenced him to an unconditional discharge, imposing no fine, jail or probation time. McCarthy, on āAmericaās Newsroom,ā noted that Trump effectively defended his actions during the hearing and expressed curiosity about how Trump might have performed as a witness in a courtroom setting.
WATCH:
šŗ Embedded media ā coming soon
āI always wondered how Trump would have done as a witness. You know, we see him as a larger than life political figure, which is very different from communicating in a setting where thereās a judge, so thereās a referee,ā McCarthy said. āYou canāt get away with doing soliloquies, right? You have to actually answer the questions. But I thought that heās his own best advocate in this setting. And I always thought that in a jury trial, he would have been effective, looking at the jurors in the eye the way he looks the voters in the eye and making his point.ā
āCause I think as Kerri just pointed out, a lot of the things that he said today are absolutely true,ā he continued. āWhen he talks about that that was an expense where he paid a lawyer. The testimony was the guy had a dropdown menu and it was a legal expense ācause he was paying a lawyer. There wasnāt any idea of concealment attached to it.ā
A Manhattan juryĀ convicted Trump in May on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records pertaining to a $130,000 non-disclosure payment to former porn actress Stormy Daniels, who alleged that the two had an affair in 2006.
Trump repeatedly characterized the payment as a ālegal expenseā during the hearing, saying he did not falsify business records. The president-elect professed his innocence, asserting he āwas treated very, very unfairly.ā
After the sentencing, Trump posted on Truth Social that he will appeal the case.
āThe real Jury, the American People, have spoken, by Re-Electing me with an overwhelming MANDATE in one of the most consequential Elections in History. As the American People have seen, this ācaseā had no crime, no damages, no proof, no facts, no Law, only a highly conflicted Judge, a star witness who is a disbarred, disgraced, serial perjurer, and criminal Election Interference,ā he wrote. āTodayās event was a despicable charade, and now that it is over, we will appeal this Hoax, which has no merit, and restore the trust of Americans in our once great System of Justice. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!ā
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporterās byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contactĀ [email protected].