Why the first witness tomorrow in Donald Trump’s criminal trial is so important
When Donald Trump’s criminal trial resumes tomorrow, the witness on the stand will not be David Pecker. It won’t be Michael Cohen. It won’t be Stormy Daniels or Karen McDougal or Hope Hicks either. It’ll be a name you almost certainly never heard of coming into this trial. And his testimony will be quite mundane. But that’s the point.
When the trial adjourned on Friday afternoon, the witness on the stand was the bank official who processed Cohen’s home equity loan. This testimony is legally important because Cohen told the bank that the money would not be used for political purposes, even though he was taking out the loan so he could pay off Stormy Daniels at Trump’s instruction. The bank official didn’t finish testifying, so he’ll be back on the stand this morning.
This all helps establish that Trump and Cohen were indeed carrying out a criminal conspiracy when they bought Daniels’ silence. And it’s crucial, because it helps corroborate the testimony that Cohen will give when he takes the stand later on. So even if the jury isn’t certain about wanting to take Cohen at his word, the bank officer’s testimony makes it much easier for the jury to buy into the whole thing.
When the threshold is proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the difference between conviction and acquittal can indeed come down to a bank official testifying about how a piece of paper was filled out. This kind of testimony is the glue that makes the headlining testimony from the likes of Cohen, Pecker, and McDougal stick together in the eyes of the jury. So today’s first witness is indeed crucial, even as “boring” as his testimony may be. It’s the kind of testimony that’ll ensure Donald Trump is convicted.
