MSNBC Panel Says Stormy Daniels’ Lawyer Was ‘Difficult’ Witness For Prosecution And ‘Helpful’ To Trump

Panelists on MSNBC claimed that former legal professional Keith Davidson, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels, was a troublesome witness for the prosecution and helped the case of former President Donald Trump.

Testifying on Thursday, Davidson—who additionally served as Karen McDougal’s legal professional—confirmed that Trump had dedicated 34 felonies in connection along with his purportedly falsified enterprise data to reimburse Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, for the $130,000 that Daniels had obtained earlier than the 2016 election. Adam Pollock, a former deputy legal professional basic of New York, described his testimony as “difficult” for the prosecution.

Still, MSNBC authorized analyst Catherine Christian referred to as it “helpful” for the protection as a result of it might give Trump’s legal professionals extra proof to assert that Daniels’ lawyer took benefit of the then-candidate.

“I think Davidson is one in a line of difficult witnesses that already come before and are going to be coming in this trial,” Pollock mentioned in response to host Katy Tur asking about how his testimony impacted the prosecution’s case.

“This is a messy trial, and sort of gives us all an insight, a crack into what this sordid world is about between the National Enquirer and selling stories. It’s not pretty to watch,” Pollock added.

“He was helpful in that he established that there was a payoff and he negotiated with Michael Cohen, but he was helpful to the defense because he has, particularly since the prosecution didn’t bring out some of his bad acts on their direct examination, he appears to be in the defense view, just a lawyer who shakes down people, whether it was Hulk Hogan or other people,” Christian mentioned in response to the identical query.

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“That’s what he did and maybe that’s what happened here. That’s what the defense will say. This was a shakedown of Donald Trump. This wasn’t about paying someone as an illegal campaign contribution. This was a shake-down, and Michael Cohen, it’s an understatement to say how difficult of a witness he is for the prosecution,” Christian added.

In December 2016, Davidson testified that he obtained a name from Cohen, who he believed was planning to “kill himself” as a result of Trump had not appointed him to a cupboard place.

A CNN panel agreed on Thursday that there isn’t sufficient proof to support Trump’s allegation of “direct involvement” within the funds; they famous that the witness testimony has solely produced “tidbits” of data and that there aren’t many “receipts” supporting the declare.

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Alina Habba, one in every of Trump’s legal professionals, mentioned that the previous president can’t get a good trial within the hush cash case as a result of the jury appears to be biased about politics.

Habba, who isn’t representing Trump within the falsifying enterprise data trial in New York, mentioned throughout an interview on Fox News that she is apprehensive that “politicized judges and blue juries” will work in opposition to him.

Judge Juan Merchan, who’s in command of the hush cash trial, fined Trump $9,000 and instructed him he might go to jail for breaking a gag order that mentioned he couldn’t speak about doable witnesses in public.

Trump, the seemingly Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has mentioned many occasions that Merchan is biased in opposition to him. He additionally tried to get the trial moved from Manhattan, which is a stronghold for Democrats, to Staten Island, which is a stronghold for Republicans, to enhance his probabilities of getting an neutral jury.

Habba instructed Fox News that she doesn’t care if the trial proves Trump responsible or not as a result of “the facts are on our side” to counsel he didn’t. What worries her is how the jury will see him it doesn’t matter what.

“The issue [is] we have politicized judges and blue juries coming in, and they’re supposed to be impartial, but you have a judge tweaking, reprimanding, putting down counsel on the other side, being harder on one side than the other, that affects the jury,” Habba mentioned. “And that’s not fair. It’s not right.”

“Now, if President Trump is given a fair jury, a fair trial like anybody else in this country would be—because his name is Trump, he doesn’t—that’s where my concern is, not the facts. The facts are on our side,” Habba added.

In response to allegations that he organized for grownup movie star Stormy Daniels to obtain “hush money” from his former legal professional Michael Cohen so as to conceal an alleged affair between Daniels and Trump previous to the 2016 election, Trump entered a not responsible plea on 34 felony counts of falsifying enterprise data.

According to Trump’s company data, the funds have been declared as “legal fees,” which prosecutors declare was part of a felony effort to sway the outcomes of the 2016 presidential contest. While acknowledging that he paid Cohen $130,000 again, Trump insists that he by no means had an affair with Daniels.

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