Ex-prosecutor knocks down Trump's strongest defense after watching 2 days of testimony

Jurors have already heard two days of damning testimony against Donald Trump in his hush money trial, and a former prosecutor told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" she believes what had been considered his strongest defense could be knocked down.

Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker told the jury that he personally tracked down negative stories about Trump during the 2016 election campaign and paid off damaging sources to prevent them from speaking to other outlets. Politico's deputy managing editor for politics Sam Stein floated what he believed to be the greatest weakness in the case against the ex-president.

"I actually think the defense is fairly easy here, right, which is this man David Pecker ran the National Enquirer, which literally made up stories and peddled lies," Stein said. "Why should we believe that he's telling the truth now? Same with Michael Cohen — he's admitted in prior iterations that he lied, why should we believe anything he says now? That, to me, seems a powerful defense — they're admitted liars, in disinformation, you shouldn't believe what they have to say, what should the prosecution do with that?"

But Barbara McQuade, the former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, said it should be fairly easy for prosecutors to counter that defense and bolster the credibility of their key witnesses.

"Oftentimes a prosecutor needs to use as a witness somebody who was a criminal associate of the defendant," McQuade said. "The common statement is to say, 'I didn't choose the witnesses, the defendant did by associating with them very closely,'" she said. "The key is, of course, to find corroborating evidence so the jury don't have to take their word for it.

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"We'll hear from people like Hope Hicks and other people who worked for the Trump Organization. We'll see documents in the forms of checks and ledgers, we'll hear that recording between Michael Cohen and Donald Trump about setting up essential consultants and some of the other payments."

"You can see it coming for David Pecker, for sure," McQuade added. "It's coming for Michael Cohen and, if she testifies, it will be coming for Stormy Daniels, as well. Very often the corroboration is enough to rehabilitate those witnesses."

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