Melania Trump may be called to court to testify in her husband, Donald Trump's, continuing hush money prosecution, according to a lawyer.
The former president's criminal trial began on Monday, stemming from claims that he conspired with his former attorney, Michael Cohen, to fabricate papers in order to conceal payments he paid to his former counsel.
The reimbursements were purportedly for a "hush money" payment made by Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, in order to prevent her from publicly disclosing their romance. Trump strongly denied the affair and pled not guilty to the charges.
Judge Juan Merchan read the names of potential witnesses, including Trump's three adult children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. His wife, Melania, was also on the list, and legal experts feared the prosecution would force her to testify.
"If Melania is subpoenaed by the prosecution, she would have to testify unless she can assert some sort of privilege," former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani told Newsweek.
However, Rahmani emphasized that Melania possessed the spousal privilege, which is entrenched under New York law and "protects the confidential communications between spouses during the course of marriage."
Former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe agreed that the state could constitutionally compel Melania to attend as a trial witness. However, he added, "the likelihood of that occurring is extremely low to non-existent." Additionally, the legal expert believes Melania's statement will not help the case.
"Any government attempt to force her to be present as a potential witness would just feed Trump's preferred narrative that the case is about airing salacious rumors instead of holding Trump accountable for crimes," he added.
McAuliffe also stated that the former first lady was not involved in the claims that Trump had an affair with Daniels. "In fact, she's the putative victim in the illicit sex part of the story," he said.
The trial was about Cohen allegedly paying Daniels $130,000 in hush money to keep her affair with the former president a secret before the 2016 election. Prosecutors stated that Trump faked corporate documents and paid Cohen $420,000 as repayment for the payment and other expenditures, but disguised it as a legal fee.
According to a person with firsthand information who chose to remain anonymous in order to protect their relationship with the Trumps, Melania thought the trial was "a disgrace" and amounted to election interference. The New York Times reported that the trial may also have an impact on his relationship with Melania, who has defended him in the past, including when he boasted on camera about grabbing women by their privates.
Meanwhile, Stephanie Grisham, former Trump administration secretary and communications director, as well as Melania's former chief of staff, previously stated that the legal battle would bother Trump since he supposedly fears and respects his wife. She was also confident that Trump would continue to deny the affair because confirming it would not benefit him legally and would simply imply that the payoff occurred.
