Mr. Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican nominee, derided the trial as “rigged” and made numerous false statements about what had taken place in court

Like he would even know what took place in court since he slept through half of it

He had the opportunity to testify if he thought any of the statements were false… he declined.

That’s all we need to fucking say - under oath he refused to refute the charges.

It kind of does say it all, but in a criminal trial, refusing to testify cannot be held against you under the 5th Amendment. In a civil trial, though, refusing to testify can be factored into reaching a verdict.

So yeah, while it may make you appear guilty as hell, refusing to testify in your criminal trial cannot be held against you.

That was hammered into us every time I had to report for jury duty.

Idealistically, you’re right. But it says volumes that someone would be willing to say a lot of shit in front of a camera (where the consequences are miniscule), but refuse to say the exact same shit in front of a judge (where the consequences are serious [assuming you’re not a “rich” white orange cult leader]).

Trump doesn’t testify for the one reason we all know: he’d incriminate himself faster than any piece of evidence that could ever be produced.