Prosecutors seek to ask Trump about civil fraud, E. Jean Carroll cases and more if he testifies in hush money case

Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office said in a court filing Wednesday that they plan to ask Donald Trump about the costly verdicts and findings of wrongdoing in his numerous civil cases if the former president decides to testify in the criminal case against him — though the permissibility of that line of questioning remains to be seen.

The prosecutors said they intend to ask Trump about the judgment in state Attorney General Letitia James' civil fraud suit against him and his company, as well as a pair of verdicts in lawsuits brought against him by writer E. Jean Carroll. The judgments in the three cases total almost $550 million and include findings that Trump committed fraud in the AG's case and that he's liable for sexual abuse and defamation in the Carroll case.

District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office also plans to mention findings by the judge in the civil fraud case that Trump violated a gag order and "testified untruthfully under oath" during the trial.

They said they want to be able to bring up those findings — which Trump is appealing — in order "to impeach the credibility of the defendant" if he takes the witness stand.

Trump said last week he "absolutely" plans to testify but is under no obligation to do so.

If he does take the stand, prosecutors would also like to ask him about the verdict in the DA's successful criminal tax fraud prosecution of the Trump Organization, and a settlement his Trump Foundation struck with the AG's office back in 2019. A federal judge ordered Trump to pay $2 million in damages in that case after the foundation admitted in a settlement that Trump had misused foundation funds to help his 2016 presidential campaign, settle personal legal disputes and buy