Prosecution 'racking up points' and 'well on its way to winning' Trump trial: analysis
Legal analyst Norm Eisen thinks that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is greatly outpacing Donald Trump's defense team in the former president's hush-money trial.
Writing on Twitter, Eisen argued that the prosecution "seems well on its way to winning," and then he linked to a piece he wrote for CNN.com that elaborates on this analysis and argues that Bragg's lawyers are "racking up points."
In his piece, Eisen focused on Monday's testimony of former Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, whom prosecutors used as a vehicle to walk jurors through the scheme to repay former Trump "fixer" Michael Cohen for paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
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"Two damning documents stood out from the dozens that the prosecution used McConney to introduce: In messy handwritten notes sprawling across the margins of two separate single pages, the repayment scheme was laid out," wrote Eisen. "For starters, $180,000 would go from Trump to Cohen: reimbursement for the $130,000 that was paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, plus another $50,000 for an unrelated matter. To account for the taxes Cohen would have to pay, another $180,000 would be included. Finally, Trump would pay Cohen another $60,000 as a bonus. McConney walked jurors through the two pages detailing all that – and many more documents revealing how the allegedly illicit repayment scheme unfolded."
Eisen did credit Trump lawyer Emil Bove for getting McConney to acknowledge that he never personally talked with Trump about the payments, but he emphasized that he expected Bragg and his team to bulldoze this strategy of distancing Trump from the payments in the coming days.
"But unfortunately for Trump, District Attorney Alvin Bragg is amassing even more evidence: a series of witnesses, documents and other evidence (even audio tapes) attesting to each specific aspect of both the alleged conspiracy and the cover-up," he argued. "For example, Pecker and former White House communications director Hope Hicks did testify to the jury that they spoke to Trump, illuminating his intent for the jury.
The bottom line, said Eisen, is "prosecutors are scoring more points so far."