Lawyers for Donald Trump will struggle during his hush money trial as they will be prevented from criticizing the former president in any way, according to a legal expert.
Speaking to MSNBC, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman suggested Trump’s legal team are going down a “hard road” because they are being stopped from offering a defense that paints the former president in any sort of negative light.
Litman made the remarks after the first week of testimony in the hush money trial ended. Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker told the jury how he worked with Trump and his lawyer Michael Cohen to help suppress negative stories about the Republican to boost his 2016 hopes, including one about an alleged affair he had with Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to money he arranged for Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with Trump secret in the run-up to the 2016 election, which was later listed in official records as Cohen’s “legal fees.” Prosecutors argue that Trump, Pecker and Cohen “orchestrated a cover-up to interfere” with the 2016 presidential election by concealing negative information about the Republican from becoming public.
Michael M. Santiago / POOL / AFP/Getty Images
Litman said that normally the defense would argue in this type of case that the defendant is “a little sleazy, he cuts corners, but he’s not a criminal,” but Trump’s lawyers are hamstrung to do so in this trial.
“They can’t make that defense because Trump is right there and he won’t let him,” Litman said. “So they’re having to carry that weight.”
Litman added that denying all wrongdoing in connection to the hush money trial, including that Trump ever had an affair with Daniels, may hinder the former president eventually.
“The weight of it, I think, is just too much to bear,” Litman said. “The jury will say ‘not all these things can be lies,’ and given the way they’ve defended it, that makes the whole case very hard to defend.”
Trump’s legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
Litman suggested that the defense’s questioning of Pecker was “technically sound, but didn’t get anywhere” because they tried to convince the jury that he is a liar.
“This guy is not a liar,” Litman said. “He’s a very interesting figure, he’s a scoundrel of some sort, but he’s not a liar, and they’re just trying to sort of poke any hole they can find, but they’re not doing it thematically.”
Former prosecutor Karen Agnifilo, who used to work in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said Pecker’s testimony was “extremely damaging” for Trump in that he outlined a criminal conspiracy to “catch and kill” stories in violation of election laws in order to influence the election.
“The prosecution is starting their case with Trump-friendly witnesses,” Agnifilo told Newsweek. “They are building as much of their case as they can through witnesses who don’t have any stake in the case nor do they have any animus against Trump which gives them unique credibility.
“Trump’s team is using the prosecution witnesses to build their defense and draw out facts that they believe help the defendant’s narrative rather than attacking their credibility. These are smart strategies for both sides to employ.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.