Trump: 'I would be very proud to go to jail for our Constitution'

The fourth week of the trial against Donald Trump in New York ended, and the former president closed the day with a long speech outside the court, in which he assured us that he would be "very proud to go to jail for our Constitution." For several days, Judge Juan Merchán has threatened to send the Republican to jail if he continues to violate the gag order imposed on him. However, the former president's legal team claims that it is unconstitutional and that the witnesses in the case enjoy total freedom to talk about Trump while he cannot defend himself.

No gag order for Cohen

The prosecution's star witness, Michael Cohen, has spent the last few weeks going on interviews and making live broadcasts through his social media in which he makes accusations against Trump and tells his side of the case. Meanwhile, former President Trump has been barred from answering those allegations and has been threatened by Judge Merchán with jail time.

This Friday, Trump's lawyers asked the judge to impose a gag order on Cohen as well. Merchán denied the defense request but told prosecutors to ask Cohen not to make any more statements about Trump or the case in general.

The trial will resume next Monday, with Cohen testifying as the prosecution's star witness.

Trump speaks outside the court

Donald Trump gave a longer-than-usual speech this Friday outside the court. In addition to saying he was willing to go to jail, he assured that the gag order against him is unconstitutional. He cited the names of several legal experts who have stated in the media and opinion columns that this case makes no sense and that it is unclear what crime the former president would have committed.

Trump also mentioned President Biden, showing a New York Post publication that reads: "Biden claims inflation was 9% when he came into office — when it actually was 1.4%." The Republican said that Biden continues to lie and that the economic situation would even reach a crisis if the Democrat wins the presidency again. President Biden has said on different occasions that he received the economy with an inflation of 9%; despite corrections from different media this week, the Democrat lied about it again.

Trump spent hours signing documents

Madeleine Westerhout, who was Trump's personal secretary in the White House, testified about the former president's personality and how he approached day-to-day tasks, saying that Trump was a multi-tasker and often signed documents without reviewing them.

Westerhout said Trump spent hours signing documents. She detailed that he signed articles, letters, memos, proclamations and checks and saw Trump sign checks without reviewing them on many occasions, especially when he was on the phone or in meetings.

Westerhout's statement is crucial because it shows that it is very likely that former President Trump was not aware of the details of the checks he was signing for his former attorney, Michael Cohen.

Another important statement from Westerhout was related to Trump's concern for his family and how stories like the Stormy Daniels story might affect them. She asserted that the former president was very upset about the story and that he knew it would cause harm to his family. This testimony is also of importance to the case because it contradicts prosecutors' argument that Trump paid Daniels because he feared he would lose the election. Already two witnesses have claimed that the former president's main concern was his family and not what voters would think of the porn actress' story.