Ex-Prosecutor Spots A Big 'Oops' In Donald Trump's Likely Legal Defense
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann on Sunday suggested Donald Trump will contradict himself with a defense in his hush money trial. Opening arguments are expected to begin Monday.
“Oops,” Weissmann wrote on X (formerly Twitter) of what he predicted would be a faux pas from the presumptive GOP nominee’s legal team.
He said: “Trump’s latest defense, which we will see at trial I’m sure, that the 34 business records were not false because they were legal payments (reimbursing his lawyer Cohen for making the $130,000 hush money payment) is BELIED by contemporaneous notations that the payments were for ongoing legal services rendered during a certain month.”
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Trump's latest defense, which we will see at trial I'm sure, that the 34 business records were not false because they were legal payments (reimbursing his lawyer Cohen for making the $130,000 hush money payment) is BELIED by contemporaneous notations that the payments were for…
— Andrew Weissmann (weissmann11 on Threads)🌻 (@AWeissmann_) April 21, 2024
On Sunday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Weekend,” Weissmann also envisioned a tug of war over Michael Cohen, a former Trump attorney turned vocal Trump critic.
Trump’s defense team will try to paint Cohen as the “heart and soul” of the case and an unreliable witness because of his “baggage,” said Weissmann. Cohen was sentenced to prison for crimes he committed when he was Trump’s lawyer.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, will say Cohen is not a critical witness but just one element of the case alongside “tons of documents” and other evidence, he predicted.
Watch the full analysis here:
