By: Nelson Kramer
Local News Editor
Former president Donald Trump finds himself in court again with his first of four criminal trials moving forward. The four trials include the current “hush money” trial, the Mar-a-Lago documents case, the trial regarding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, and the Georgia election interference case. The current “hush money” trial involves payments to Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen as reimbursement for Cohen payment to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels. The payment was allegedly made to prevent Daniels from going public about a past extramarital affair she had with Trump. Trump has pleaded not guilty in this trial.
The prosecution, led by New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, argues two things: the payment was made to potentially benefit and influence Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, constituting illegal campaign contributions as they were not properly reported. Secondly, Trump marked off the payment as a business expense seemingly to double down on covering up the affair. This falsification of business records in order to cover up the true nature of these payments is against the law. Meanwhile, Trump and his legal team have talked to the press outside the Supreme Court of New York denying any wrongdoing, characterizing the trial as politically motivated and aiming to influence the upcoming election.
The prosecutors have charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records, and while the defense has yet to call their witnesses to the stand, the prosecution has already called five key witnesses including Cohen and Daniels. David Pecker, a former publisher of the National Enquirer, testified about his arrangement with Trump to suppress negative stories made about Trump. Rhona Graff, Trump’s assistant, also testified about her role in facilitating communications and transactions involving “hush money” payments. Gary Farro, a former banker who worked with Michael Cohen in making these transactions by setting up a Limited liability company (LLC), is also a witness.
The pinnacle of this trial and the strongest case the defense can make depends on the testimony of Cohen. His testimony is critical for the case the prosecution is trying to make as it provides a direct account of Trump’s alleged illegal activities. His testimony outlined facts supporting the idea that these incidents were not isolated or accidental, but intentional in many cases to positively influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential campaign and election. Although the prosecution offered legal immunity to witnesses like Cohen, it still must struggle to combat the idea that Cohen does not provide trustworthy witness testimony because of his past lies. The defense is, in turn, using errors and contradictions Cohen makes on the stand to discredit his testimony, implying that he is not a trustworthy source of information.
(sources: Alabama Daily, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, UPI)