From a legal perspective, the odd thing about the Trump case is that the most egregious and practically significant conduct–the alleged hush money payment–is only essential background information; the actual misconduct revolves around business records. The prosecution will be required to prove: that Michael Cohen made a payment to Stormy Daniels; that the payment is intended to buy her silence for political reasons; that Cohen was reimbursed by the Trump Organization at Trump’s direction; that the reimbursement was falsely identified as a legal expense on the TO’s books at Trump’s direction; and that the false statement in the business records constituted a felony–either a campaign finance or a state tax violation. The last of these elements is the one that is the most legally questionable.
You will have noticed that whether Trump actually had an affair with Daniels is not one of the elements of the case. As a result, I strongly suspect that the prosecution will not call her in its case-in-chief. If Trump orders his team to let him testify, and he insists that there was no affair or hush money, however, the prosecution will have to put her on the stand in its rebuttal case. That could be a legal and political disaster for the man on golf cart.
Trump doesn’t just want a hung jury, or a finding of guilt on a misdemeanor charge; he wants vindication. I think he will overrule his attorneys and testify. If my reading of his character and motives is right, that’s when the fun will begin.