Former President Donald Trump’s hush money and election interference criminal trial in Manhattan is currently in its second day of extensive testimony. That means things are just getting started.
With that in mind, I decided to highlight some of the biggest political questions moving forward regarding Trump’s legal woes.
Can people be convinced that President Trump’s actions constitute “election interference”?
For prosecutors, proving that the former president’s hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he is accused of having an affair, and the subsequent cover-up were intended to influence the 2016 election. is extremely important. (Prosecutors argue this makes the charge a felony rather than a misdemeanor.)
President Trump has suggested that the payments to Daniels were more personal in nature, and some conservative legal experts say the issue poses a hurdle for prosecutors, as it did in the John Edwards case. It is argued that there is a possibility that
Prosecutors called their first witness, David Pecker, a former executive at the National Enquirer tabloid. Pecker explained how the broader Trump plan was actually aimed at helping Trump win the 2016 campaign. This includes efforts to “catch and kill” negative stories in Mr. Pecker’s tabloids and plant positive ones.
Pecker first enlisted Trump and his then-lawyer Michael Cohen in August 2015 to cover up stories of Trump’s potentially harmful extramarital affair in the months leading up to the election. and testified that the purpose was to support the election campaign. Mr. Pecker talked about the media coverage agreement between the two countries. — This included attacking Trump’s rivals and publishing positive articles about him. — It began shortly after Trump began his campaign in 2016. He said that as Cohen strategized to kill another story in which a Trump Tower doorman claimed to have fathered a child with President Trump out of wedlock, Cohen repeatedly stressed the campaign and asked Pecker about the doorman’s child. He said he had the freedom to do what he wanted. After the election.
This point is also politically important. A YouGov poll found that by more than 3 to 1, Americans think it is a crime to “pay someone to keep quiet about an issue that could affect the outcome of an election.” is the answer. Even Republicans used to overwhelmingly agree with this, at least before Mr. Trump was indicted on such charges.
Will public opinion change as we get closer to the core?
This question has long haunted President Trump’s criminal case. The more people actually know about former President Trump, the more concerned they will become. And how much will people remember about what they didn’t like about Trump now that their views of him and his presidency have improved?
Early signs are that various court cases could become more troublesome for Trump, including two state cases over hush money and overturning the 2020 election. Two federal and classified documents on January 6th.
Dating back to 2018, polls have shown that between 31 and 41 percent of Americans believe Trump acted illegally in the hush-money scandal. (Many others thought he simply did something unethical.) These numbers are well below Trump’s other criminal cases.
But a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday shows that 46% now think President Trump broke the law in this case, as well as others.
Trump has lost some support in recent national opinion polls. suddenly give away more votes Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. over President Biden. It is not yet clear whether this is due to the hush money incident.
How does Michael Cohen play the highly flawed witness?
President Trump’s former lawyer is expected to be a key witness in the case, given his close involvement in the scheme. But he’s also a convicted criminal, including perjury, and isn’t a very sympathetic or trustworthy figure, including among liberals.
Recognizing these facts, the prosecution tried to set the tone in its opening statement. They argued that there was so much evidence to support Mr. Cohen’s testimony that there was no need to simply believe him.
“His testimony will be corroborated by the testimony of other witnesses, including David Pecker…” said prosecutor Matthew Colangelo. “That is supported by an extensive paper trail of bank records, emails, text messages, phone records, business documents and other records that we will at times present in detail during this trial. It will be corroborated by Donald Trump’s own words recorded on tape, social media posts, his own books, and videos of his own speeches.”
Even so, prosecutors’ case could be undermined if Mr. Cohen stumbles or does not appear sincere.
“As soon as you were arrested in 2018, you would find out: [Cohen] “We have made a decision,” President Trump’s attorney Todd Blanche said in his opening statement. “The decision he made was to blame President Trump for virtually every problem.
“He was ultimately disbarred from practicing law. He is a convicted felon. And he is a convicted perjurer. He is a self-confessed liar.”
So far, Cohen appears to have thought about his social media comments against Trump during the trial and has vowed to stop posting about the case until he testifies.
What will happen to President Trump’s actions?
It’s not all about the verdict or the facts of the case. Because throughout his career, Trump has shown himself to be an unstable figure who is willing to fight these issues by any means necessary in the court of public opinion.
We are looking forward to hearing from New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Marchan on whether President Trump violated the gag order in the case by attacking witnesses, prospective jurors, and even the judge’s daughter. Awaiting an important verdict. Although it seems unlikely that Mr. Trump will be jailed for such actions, Mr. Trump has consistently tested the limits in these cases — potentially hoping to make himself a martyr. and in such a way as to tempt harsher repression.
The fact that President Trump has been sitting in court for weeks listening to his dirty laundry air could also have repercussions. The potential Republican candidate has already been disciplined by Marchand for possibly intimidating a witness. And remember, this is a very personal matter for Mr. Trump and his family.
President Trump wants to convince the public that he is being persecuted, but that is far from the majority view at this point. Therefore, he needs to push harder. And we’ve seen how often he can become his own worst enemy, when under legal pressure he appeals to his own base at the expense of a broader electorate.
“Oh! Former AG Bill Barr…support me as your presidential candidate even though I called him “weak, slow, lethargic, gutless, and lazy.” Based on the fact that I am very grateful for his wholehearted support, I would like to say that I have removed the word “apathy” from my statement. Thank you Bill. ”
– Trump Tells the Truth Late Wednesday night, the former attorney general signaled he would support Trump even though he said electing him would be akin to “playing Russian roulette with the country.” After that, he spoke out on social media. (Barr, meanwhile, said electing Joe Biden would be “suicide.”) It’s a powerful reminder that toeing Trump’s line won’t necessarily restore pride. It’s something that makes you
