Having any client testify was risky, but the risks increased manyfold with a client like Trump who tended to exaggerate and had his own brand of reality. Trump’s lawyers had prepped CEOs for depositions for hundreds of hours and always carefully reminded them of the rules. If you couldn’t remember key parts or every detail, simply say, “I can’t recall.” If you didn’t know for certain, say, “I don’t know.” But such executives were bred to have answers and tended to be impossibly stubborn. It was as if they were genetically unable to say, “I’m not sure.” Trump was an extreme version of this. His
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