CNN
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Donald Trump is entering the most dangerous phase of his hush money trial, other than the moment when jurors retire to consider their verdict.
Former adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand again on Thursday, giving sometimes explicit and gruesome testimony about her alleged sexual encounters with Trump nearly two decades ago. The first criminal trial against a former president. Her evidence on Tuesday was deeply embarrassing for Trump, prompting aggressive cross-examination from his lawyers who sought to shatter Daniels’ credibility.
Trump spent Wednesday, a day off from his trial, at his home in Florida. He will once again be at loggerheads with Judge Juan Melchan, who has previously threatened to jail him if he violates the gag order again, which he has already ignored 10 times. Marchand also directed Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche to restrain his client, complaining that his client audibly swore and shook his head during Daniels’ testimony. The judge warned that this could not be allowed to continue as he feared the jury would find out the witness was being intimidated.
Trump, who has so far launched fierce attacks on judges, has managed to refrain from publicly attacking Daniels since taking the stage. But her continued testimony will test him further. And her appearance is just a prelude to the explosive evidence expected in the coming days from Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen. His testimony may be more closely related to the underlying charge that Trump falsified business records to conceal hush-money payments to buy Daniels’ silence about the relationship, which Trump said Tuesday. expensive. President Trump denies having an affair and maintains his innocence.
Mr. Cohen, himself a flamboyant figure who often sought to replicate the bravado of his boss, who once said he would “take a bullet” for Mr. Trump, facilitated the $130,000 payment to Mr. Daniels. The former president, who now views Mr. Cohen as a traitor, has sought to improve his usefulness as a witness by highlighting the time Mr. Cohen spent in prison for what a judge once called “the very fraud of fraud.” I’ve spent months trying to break my sexuality.
Mr. Daniels’ testimony and Mr. Cohen’s future appearance could lead to a forensic unearthing of Mr. Trump’s past life that he does not want to see the light of day – and the hush money he paid before the 2016 election. The proof is in the price. The topic is hot now, years after allegations of violations arose during the new White House campaign.
The coming days will therefore require qualities that Mr. Trump has always struggled to display in his tumultuous life in business and politics: restraint and self-control. Any behavior that could be construed as witness intimidation or attempts to influence jurors on social media or in court could put Mr Marchand over the red line he set earlier this week. be. The judge told Trump that he did not want to impose a limited prison sentence of just a few hours, but that he would do so if he had to act to protect the fairness of the trial. Ta.
Sarah Matthews, President Trump’s former White House deputy press secretary, told CNN’s Jim Acosta on Wednesday that the former president’s mood would be volatile after Tuesday’s court ordeal. “I don’t want to work on his campaign team right now or be one of his lawyers, given that he’s definitely been virulent against them. After that testimony, he is upset,” Matthews said.
But Matthews said that even though Trump has said he is willing to spend time behind bars to strengthen his campaign’s case that he is a persecuted political dissident. , argued that fear of the consequences can temper public reactions. “I don’t know if we’ll ever see Donald Trump break the gag order again. Look, he’s a clean freak,” Matthews said. “Honestly, I don’t think he wants to go to jail. … I don’t think it’s going to end up like that. I think he’ll push it to the edge.”
Mr. Cohen’s time on the witness stand could be particularly excruciating for the former president. Daniels’ testimony about the alleged 2006 encounter in a Lake Tahoe hotel suite was painfully embarrassing, but he is not considered key to the case against him. Prosecutors brought her story because they needed to explain to jurors why President Trump was trying to hide money in cash before the 2016 election, misleading voters and spoiling the federal election. It alleges it was an attempt to interfere.
But Mr. Cohen is the most important pillar of this entire case. His actions and knowledge directly bear on the question of whether the former president intentionally falsified his business records in a way that prosecutors could prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt. There is.
Therefore, he is expected to face even more intense cross-examination from Trump’s defense team than Daniels. In fact, dismantling the evidence represents President Trump’s best hope of putting doubt in the mind of one or more jurors that could lead to an acquittal.
President Trump’s hair-trigger temperament is often activated when he feels unfairly attacked. And his mantra in life is that when he gets hit hard, he hits back harder.
His behavior was particularly sharp during a civil fraud trial targeting him, his adult sons, and the Trump Organization that ended in a nearly $500 million judgment against them. His acting skills culminated in extraordinary testimony in his own defense that at times looked more like a campaign stunt than a solemn court proceeding. He consistently trampled on courtroom decorum, at one point prompting Judge Arthur Engoron to plead with Trump’s lawyers to “control him if possible.”
Although Mr. Trump was not sanctioned, the judge weighed in on the former president’s commitment to the case and the rule of law as he detailed the massive fraud perpetrated to obtain favorable treatment for Mr. Trump from financial institutions. mentioned contempt. “Their lack of repentance and remorse is pathological,” Engoron said of Trump and his sons. In yet another case, Trump’s continued attacks on author E. Jean Carroll after her defamation trial were factored into the $83 million judgment against her.
In Mr. Trump’s first criminal trial, the analogy is not accurate. Since Mr. Trump is not on the witness stand, there is little opportunity to challenge Mr. Marchand’s authority in court. (Many legal experts believe President Trump’s attempt to honor his oath to testify in his own defense will be a major legal failure). But at the same time, the presence of a jury in this case means that Mr Marchand has even less room for wrongdoing, especially after he was given two warnings and put on even thinner ice. do.
The former president, who built his personal brand by always being the most dominant person in the room, was slow to realize that his dismissive behavior in court was constantly getting him into trouble. The hush money trial, which will continue over the next few days, will reveal whether the situation has changed.
