It’s down to the nitty gritty now
David Pecker turned out to be a bombshell first witness for the prosecution in Donald Trump’s criminal trial, the kind that sets the stage for a conviction right out of the gate. So what about the second and third witnesses? They had to be even bigger bombshells, right?
Actually, it was quite the opposite. The second witness was Trump’s former longtime personal assistant Rhona Graff. She presumably knows everything about Trump. But she’s still loyal to Trump and she was testifying against her will under subpoena, so she was only going to give up the specific information she was asked about. Accordingly, the questions were largely about how she processed the payments that the Trump Organization made in relation to this scandal.
The third witness ended up being even less of a story, as a former bank executive took the stand and testified about Michael Cohen’s application for a home equity loan, which he then used to pay off Stormy Daniels at Trump’s instruction.
Were eater of these witnesses revelatory? No. Exciting? Certainly not. But they were nonetheless crucial. They help prove the nitty gritty financial transaction details of how Trump went about paying hush money and cooking his own books.
Trump’s only possible defense in this trial is a reasonable doubt argument that there isn’t absolute proof that he did the things he pretty obviously did. That’s why it’s so important that Alvin Bragg and his team are filling in every last possible crack by having Graff testify about what she thought she was initialing, and what the bank executive thought he was loaning money to Cohen for.
Don’t worry, there are plenty of blockbuster witnesses to come. Karen McDougal will testify soon about her year long affair with Trump. Hope Hicks is coming up. And Michael Cohen’s testimony should be nothing short of explosive. But in a comprehensive case like this, some witnesses are simply “glue” witnesses that help make the overall case stick together. And this trial is already getting down to the nitty gritty.
