The judge presiding over former President Donald Trump’s hush money case in Manhattan has likely already committed an “error” in the case, but a noted legal expert says he can fix it if he chooses to.
Georgetown University law professor and Fox News contributor Jonathan Turley suggested that New York Judge Juan Merchan might have erred by allowing District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team of prosecutors, under the direction of former Biden administration official Michael Colangelo—who previously held the position of acting associate attorney general—to assert that Trump was involved in breaking federal election laws.
On April 15, 2023, Bragg indicted Trump on 34 felony counts for falsifying business records of hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels and Playboy playmate Karen McDougal.
Trump then reimbursed his former attorney, Michael Cohen, through a series of payments made throughout 2017. These payments totaled $420,000 and included additional expenses, a bonus, and funds to cover taxes. Prosecutors allege that these payments were made through the Trump Organization and falsely labeled as legal payments.
But Turley said the manner in which those payments have been described to the jury thus far is simply false.
“I got to tell you, I think this judge may have already committed reversible error,” Turley told “Fox and Friends” co-host Ainsley Earhardt on Tuesday. “He could try to amend it, he could try to change it in his instructions, but that jury has now been told repeatedly that there are federal election crimes here, strongly suggesting that the payment to Stormy Daniels did violate federal election laws. That’s just not true.”
Turley also previewed testimony from Cohen, who is expected to be a star witness for the prosecution, earlier in the segment.
“Michael Cohen is literally going to tell that jury, ‘Please send my client to jail for following my legal advice,’” Turley said. “All of the stuff that they are talking about, he set up, he structured this and told his client that, ‘we could do this.’”
“It’s a bizarre moment,” Turley added.
WATCH:
A report earlier this month predicted that Cohen will be a problem for Bragg’s prosecutors. Not only is the DA’s office grappling with efforts to prevent him from speaking out about the case, but they also contend with troubling testimony that paints a less favorable picture of Cohen for the jury, Newsweek reported.
“Michael Cohen is a complete mess as a witness for the prosecution in the current state fraud trial,” former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told the outlet.
“Cohen has loomed large over the trial that’s been taking place in the Manhattan Criminal Court. Trump was fined $9,000 for violating his gag order, which bars him from attacking any ‘foreseeable witnesses’ and jurors after the former president railed against Cohen and Daniels outside the courtroom,” the outlet noted further.
Cohen, who has become a prominent Trump critic since his split with his former boss, persists in discussing the case despite being slated to testify in the trial. Just recently, Cohen used X, formerly Twitter, to address Trump as “Von ShitzInPantz,” asserting that “your attacks on me stink of desperation.”
Cohen has further delved into discussions about Trump and the trial during his nightly livestreams on TikTok, quipping remarks such as, “Trump 2024? More like Trump 20-24 years.” According to ABC, Cohen is reportedly making a profit from these extensive livestreams.
McAuliffe noted that Cohen’s past statements about Trump and his “often bizarre publicity stunts” make the former fixer-lawyer “less and less useful as a source of credible evidence.”
“By constantly puffing up his anticipated role as a Trump-slayer, he makes it much less possible to be one,” McAuliffe said.
The post Turley: Judge In Trump Trial Likely Committed ‘Reversible Error’ appeared first on Conservative Brief.
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Author: Jon Dougherty
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