The pair 'best equipped' for hush money trial testimony 'present tough choices' for Trump: analyst



Just 31 ahead of Donald Trump's trial for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against him over falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments made to adult actress Stormy Daniels — legal analyst Lisa Rubin submits there's one problem facing Trump's team.

Rubin writes "by the time testimony is underway," there might be "an eerie sense of déjà vu" for onlookers. "Because with much of Trump’s pre-presidential activities and his early White House behavior, the two people best equipped to say what Trump knew and intended with his allegedly criminal conduct are once again his former lawyer turned sworn enemy, Michael Cohen, and the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer turned favorite fall guy, Allen Weisselberg."

However, Rubin notes while Judge Arthur Engoron deemed Cohen "a comfortable, credible witness" in Trump's civil fraud trial — despite Team Trump's protest — the judge "characterized Weisselberg, who was both witness and defendant" during the civil fraud trial "as evasive and strangely forgetful — and his testimony as 'highly unreliable,' due to a $2 million severance agreement with the Trump Organization signed on the eve of his sentencing in yet another Trump fraud case."

READ MORE: Ex-federal prosecutor: Why 'criticism' of Alvin Bragg’s case against Trump 'lacks merit'

The legal analyst emphasizes, "The one-two punch of Cohen’s successful testimony in the civil fraud trial and Weisselberg’s mounting misfortunes present some tough choices for Team Trump."

With Weisselberg found liable on all seven claims in the AG’s civil fraud case," and being "in plea negotiations with the DA’s office over his alleged perjury during that trial," Rubin raises a few questions: "Could they really call Weisselberg as a witness after two convictions and a massive liability finding, all of which stem from his association with the former president? But if they don’t call him, would Cohen’s testimony about his conversations with Trump and/or Weisselberg stand unrebutted, even if subject to a withering cross-examination? Or could it potentially be countered only by America’s most undisciplined, unpredictable witness, Trump himself?"

Regardless, Rubin notes "both assessments bode well for the Manhattan DA. Because as much as Trump’s lawyers tried to inflate Cohen’s role in the civil fraud trial, his testimony will be far more central in Bragg’s upcoming criminal prosecution."

READ MORE: 'Conspiring to corrupt': Legal experts unpack the 'seriousness' of Trump hush money case

Rubin's full op-ed is available at this link.



from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/4qfOWmy
via sinceretalk

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How misinformation could shape the Israel-Hamas war

Image
I wanted to interview Nicholas Grossman regarding the role of misinformation in the war between Israel and Hamas. In particular, I hoped to ask the professor of international relations at the University of Illinois, and senior editor of Arc Digital , about misinformation that arose from American reporting on an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. You know what? I ended up repeating a bit of misinformation! I asked him to lay out the facts about a blast that “killed hundreds, including kids,” and he said nuh-uh (not his words). In fact, Professor Grossman said, “there never were hundreds killed by an explosion at that hospital. Media reported that the hospital was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike killing 500, but that was based on something a Hamas-controlled agency said and was never supported by evidence.” Professor Grossman went on to say “what apparently did happen is something hit a nearby parking lot and caused a smaller explosion, most likely a rocket fired from Gaza towards I
Read more

PA GOP Senate candidate who says he 'started with nothing' actually grew up in a mansion

Image
David McCormick, who is Pennsylvania's presumptive Republican U.S. Senate nominee, has often suggested he grew up poor in a rural community. But a new report finds that his upbringing was far more affluent than he's suggested. The New York Times reported Friday that McCormick — a former hedge fund executive who lived in Connecticut as recently as 2022 — has been cagey with voters about his childhood. McCormick has tweeted that he was "raised in Bloomsburg working on his family's farm," said on a 2022 podcast that he " started with nothing " and told CBS News that same year that he " didn't have anything " growing up as the son of two schoolteachers. But according to the Times , McCormick's father, Dr. James H. McCormick , was appointed president of what is now Bloomsburg University by Gov. Milton Schapp (D) in 1973. He moved his family into Buckalew Place — the official mansion for presidents of the school that currently spans 5
Read more

'It is his aphrodisiac': Ex-RNC chair explains how gag order 'stimulates' Trump and his base

Image
As President Donald Trump faces gag orders in two separate cases — one from Judge Arthur Engoron presiding over his New York civil fraud trial, and the other from Judge Tanya Chutkan, who will preside of his Washington, DC January 6 trial in March — some experts expect him to violate the orders soon. With a history of threatening and verbally attacking others, MSNBC's Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace on Tuesday pointed to the fact the ex-president's rhetoric influenced January 6 rioters who chanted, "Hang Mike Pence!" Noting Trump "gets deeply stimulated and excited by the violence," Wallace asked analyst and ex-Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele what he thinks the MAGA hopeful's "calculation is on whether violating these gag orders lands him in jail is a good thing or bad thing for him." POLL : Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Steele replied, "You put your finger on two very important words t
Read more