Judge Juan Merchan said Monday that if former President Donald Trump chooses to testify in his criminal business records case, New York prosecutors are permitted to ask him about several rulings in recent civil lawsuits involving advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and fraud.
The Hill reported that Merchan decided prosecutors can cross-examine Trump about six of the 13 court rulings they requested they be allowed to raise, as they look to poke holes in the former president's credibility before the jury.
Prosecutors may question Trump about two rulings that found he defamed Carroll by denying her claims of sexual assault, Merchan said, as well as the decision in Trump's New York civil fraud trial that found he improperly manipulated property values.
The Manhattan district attorney's office is also permitted to raise rulings that found Trump ran afoul of the gag order in the fraud case, in addition to a decision from 2018 against his foundation.
Trump has repeatedly said he will testify in his own defense, but he is not required to and doing so would be rare for a criminal defendant.
The former president's attorney, Emil Bove, argued on Friday that Carroll's case was too sensational to bring up and pressed the judge to not allow prosecutors to raise it.
The Carroll case "pushes the salaciousness onto another level. This is a case about documents," Bove said, according to The Hill.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Colangelo said the defamation verdict in the Carroll case was relevant because it found that Trump's denials of the advice columnist's sexual assault claims were "false and published with actual malice."
In seeking to damage Trump's credibility on the stand, prosecutors say they intend to mention his recently decided civil fraud case and the judge's finding that the former president "repeatedly and persistently" falsified business records, released false financial statements, and conspired to defraud insurers.
Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in the New York criminal case, which hinges on payments allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels to silence her in the run-up to the 2016 election. He has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty.