New York: It’s time for Donald Trump’s defense team Thursday to take another stab at Michael Cohen, a key witness in the former president’s trial accused of faking an affair with the former president’s influential porn star. offer.
It will be an important day for Trump’s lawyers, who are fighting to dissuade jurors from believing Cohen’s account that the real estate mogul broke the law at the president’s behest.
Initially, the prosecutor, unlike the prosecutor, does not have the burden of proof, and has tried to outlaw Cohen as a former disgruntled employee, and Thursday is a great opportunity to destroy him.
Meanwhile, the first former president of the United States to face criminal charges said his bid to serve another term in the White House was limited by prosecutors.
He has courted Republican lawmakers and high officials in an effort to bring the campaign into the courtroom and depoliticize the case.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying employment records with intent to commit other crimes in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election.
Todd Blanche began questioning Trump’s amendment foes Tuesday afternoon under the watchful eye of his high-profile clients.
After an aggressive start, questions faded as the afternoon wore on, betraying some of the jury’s fatigue.
The witness, a former lawyer who is not familiar with courtroom strategy or litigation, tries to avoid direct answers, and lawyers who take little notice.
Cohen is known for a potentially damaging demeanor on the stand — his testimony at Trump’s civil fraud trial last year was chaotic — but he was measured and at times calm in answering Blanche’s questions Tuesday.
After a day off, the defense will resume on Thursday morning and the referee said he will save the heat after the break.
Prosecutors said Cohen, 57, was the last witness in the case.
His story has been widely compared to two other key witnesses: superstar Stormy Daniels, who says he was paid big bucks, and David Packer, a one-time White House hopeful who says he worked with Trump and Cohen to fend off naysayers.
Trump was accused of falsifying business records to get Cohen to pay Daniels $130,000 before the 2016 election so that he could report that he had sex with the Republican candidate and then fuel his campaign.
He denies having a one-night stand with Daniels.
After the prosecution rested, the defense was not required and did not indicate that it would be required.
Most notably, Trump’s attorney has been vague about whether his client will testify.
Telekechi believes he is the best champion – but analysts believe he could be a major liability in the stands.
When a jury is given a case to deliberate, there will be weeks of witness testimony, but they will also have documents to consider.
The personal relationship of the characters in this case makes it juicy, but at the end of the day the accusations are based on financial statements and falsification of them done to influence the 2016 presidential vote.
Prosecutors this week indicted Cohen and a grand jury on 11 counts of checks, alleging that Cohen forged money for most of Trump’s signature invoices.
Cohen said he made the payment “to keep the story, to keep Mr. Trump’s chance of being president of the United States out” and that he did it “on behalf of Mr. Trump.”
Cohen served 13 months and a year and a half in prison after pleading guilty to lying to Congress and committing financial crimes in 2018.
Under cross-examination, he said he had calmed down after FBI agents raided his hotel room and office in April 2018 looking for evidence in the case.
