Judge RESCINDS Trump’s Right to Speak at Closing Arguments in His Fraud Trial

Judge Arthur Engoron announced Wednesday that he will not allow former President Donald Trump to deliver the closing argument in his civil business fraud trial.

Earlier this week, Engoron reportedly approved of the plan to let Trump speak during closing arguments, according to sources who spoke with The Associated Press.

MSNBC legal analyst Danny Cevallos said Wednesday’s ruling did not surprise him:

In a way it shows me that Trump is being treated like other folks, and I can tell you that if somebody you’ve never heard of was a party and they filed a motion to say, “Hey, I know I have these lawyers, but I want to give a speech at my closing argument in my civil case as well,” that motion would be denied, nine times out of 10,  99 times out of 100.

Really, the judge has discretion to allow it, but I imagine he conducted his own balancing test between on the one side, “I need to maintain courtroom decorum,” and on the other side, “Well, this ought to be interesting if I allow this.” And really, courtroom decorum does have to prevail. He would be giving up just too much control if he allowed Trump a podium to just speak in the format of a closing argument, which is literally a speech. It’s supposed to be a summation of evidence, but Trump isn’t going to follow the rules of evidence, he’s going to follow the rules of Trump.

Cevallos explained the difference between testifying as a witness and giving closing arguments.

“There’s a big difference between him testifying as a witness. That’s guided by the questioning of the lawyers, and at some point, the answer to the question ends, and you have a little more control. But the essence of opening and closing arguments is that they are a kind of speech. They’re performative in their nature, and in fact, it’s really, really bad form to interrupt with an objection. So, the presumption is you get to keep talking.”

Watch the clip above via MSNBC.