Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman on Monday broke down what he believes is the terrible strategy being adopted by Donald Trump s lawyers in the former presidents hush money trial.
MSNBC s Joy Reid suggested Trump attorney Todd Blanche appeared kind of hamstrung by trying to please his client, who is accused of falsifying business documents to cover up the alleged paying off of porn actor Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The trial resumes Tuesday.
I mean, all of the sort of weirdness of calling him President Trump when hes not the president and just insisting on using that terminology and saying he did nothing wrong. All of it just seems to be for Trumps benefit. How well do you think thats working out for them in the trial? Reid asked Litman.
So far, not very, and I think its only going to get worse, Litman replied.
Trump, we often compare to a mob boss, he continued. But even when a mob boss is under indictment and goes to see his Roy Cohn, Roy Cohn says, Shut up and listen to me now. I know what needs to happen. Were going to go there and say, Maybe you havent lived an exemplary life, but this charge and that charge. They cant do that with Trump.
Cohn, who served as a mentor to Trump, was a prominent attorney who represented clients such as John Gotti.
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Trumps lawyers are going to have to say he never had an affair with [Playboy model Karen] McDougal, he never slept with Stormy, he added.
Its one thing for him to deflect and deny, but there are 12 people there who are judging his credibility and can everyone be lying here? he asked. Imagine the cross-examination theyre going to have to do on Stormy Daniels. ... Theyre just going to have to call her a flaming liar. They tried to assume the same for [former National Enquirer publisher David] Pecker. Its a terrible strategy.
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