Michael Cohen is winning the battle
Donald Trump’s lawyers had no success breaking Michael Cohen or his testimony. As Politico pointed out, they came in “with a bang (and expletive). Then, things fizzled.” It seems as if they thought they could throw some things in his face, and he would explode and behave on the stand as he sometimes does on his social media. They completely misjudged him.
Todd Blanche began his cross-examination by repeating an expletive quoted from Cohen, but Cohen owned up to everything Blanche said. That’s how you diffuse cross-examination that is meant to turn ugly. Instead of shrinking away from Blanche’s cross-examination, Cohen sat up in his seat and answered every question truthfully, which sizzled out Blanche’s fire. The real problem for Trump’s defense, however, is that Cohen explicitly testified that Trump’s pay-off was to save his fledging political career. How do they get around that? According to Politico, that’s not the only mistake they’ve made in this case.
While Trump has been quoted as “being happy” with his lawyers, Politico reported that they’ve made several “considerable, and at times baffling missteps,” which they believe will increase the odds of a conviction. Politico blames Donald Trump, who is leading them down the path to conviction. He’s their client, and while they must listen to him, they are also supposed to advise him. They started out wrong from the beginning by parroting Trump’s claim that he never had a sexual thing with Stormy Daniels. Were they unaware that she would testify? If they knew about it, surely, they would have assumed she would testify to the sexual encounter. This is not good.
After Daniels’ testimony, which some called very persuasive, the jury now knows Trump’s lawyers told a big lie. The public knew it was a lie, but this lie is much more damaging in front of a jury, even as some pro-Trump people claim Daniels’ testimony was “irrelevant.” It is amazing how some “news” outlets try to twist the truth to fit a scenario. They’re obviously pandering to Trump’s base, but it does not make them reliable news sources. Regardless, Daniels has become the most painful thorn in Trump’s side.
Trump’s defense team had two witnesses that they had to show as liars or discredit in some way, and they screwed up both. Trump’s other lawyer, Susan Necheles took on the job of cross-examining Stormy Daniels and added nothing to the case from the defense’s perspective. The jury had already heard that Trump did, indeed, have sex with Daniels, so her questions about Daniels’ motivation were inapt. According to Politico, Daniels also embarrassed Necheles on several occasions, which didn’t make her look too competent in front of the jury. A defense lawyer should never make presumptions about a witness. She will fall on her face every time, as Necheles did here.
Trump would have been better off admitting that he had sex with Daniels. He has ultimately shown who he is numerous times, and trying to hide the tryst did him no good. Melania knows about it, as does virtually everyone else. It was probably the worst-kept secret known to man.
Shirley is a former entertainment writer and has worked in the legal field for over 25 years