'Wild and unpredictable': Expert warns Trump team is primed to destroy Stormy Daniels
"Wild and unpredictable" testimony is expected when Donald Trump's lawyers finally get their chance to cross-examine Stormy Daniels during the former president's New York hush money criminal trial, according to an attorney.
Former candidate for Manhattan district attorney, Janos Marton, said prosecutors will keep their line of questioning to Daniels as close to the language of their indictment as possible — but for Trump's defense, it will be open season as they try to destroy her credibility.
Speaking to Newsweek, Marton said Daniels, "She is excited to testify, and we should expect the prosecution to call her," and added that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is, "By the book straight-shooters" and their questioning of Daniels will likely "follow the contours of their indictment and statement of facts."
Also read: Former Trump White House lawyer pins down reason for judge's contempt ruling delay
"We shouldn't expect any salacious bombshells or any more than necessary to prove what happened between Trump and Daniels. The cross-examination from Trump's team could be more wild and unpredictable, though," he said.
"Nearly everyone has seen The National Enquirer on their supermarket stand, and David Pecker's testimony today was a startling look behind the curtain about how that publication has bought and suppressed numerous stories over the past few decades," he told Newsweek, adding that the prosecution "got exactly what they wanted from Pecker in their direct examination, a confirmation of their allegations that Pecker and Trump had an arrangement to 'catch and kill' three negative stories about Trump before the 2016 election."
"On cross-examination, the Trump team got Pecker to admit that this "catch and kill" practice was very common when dealing with celebrities, like Tiger Woods and Arnold Schwarzenegger. They also got Pecker to share that he learned the phrase 'catch and kill' from the prosecution," he said.
Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in an effort to hide hush money payments to Daniels to hide an affair the two allegedly had. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.