'Cheap shots': CNN expert hits prosecutors for going 'way beyond' limit with Trump witness

Former President Donald Trump may not have gotten the mistrial he sought in the Manhattan criminal hush money case when adult film star Stormy Daniels took the stand, said former federal prosecutor Elie Honig on CNN — but that does not mean the prosecution's strategy was flawless.

Specifically, he argued, when Daniels revealed salacious details of her alleged sexual encounter with Trump, that danced on the line of what was acceptable to show to the jury as evidence — and muddied the waters of the trial's purpose.

"Did prosecutors go too far in delving into the details of the alleged sexual encounter?" asked anchor Kate Bolduan. "I mean ... do you think the motion for mistrial was founded?"

"So I think that yes, prosecutors went too far in the details they elicited, I think yes, it was the right move by Donald Trump's team to ask for a mistrial, and I think yes, it was the right move by Judge [Juan] Merchan to deny the mistrial," said Honig. "This doesn't quite rise to the level where you have to stop the trial and declare it over."

Despite that, he continued, "If we think about this strategically, prosecutors have stressed to the jury throughout this case, they've stressed to the public in their public statements, this is not a case about sex. This is a case about business records, falsifying business records. It's our bread and butter here at the D.A.'s office. It's what we do all the time. We do it to ensure business integrity.

"Okay, why, then, did prosecutors go into so much extraneous detail about the sexual encounter, to the point where Judge Merchan sustained numerous objections, he found that the questions were inappropriate?"

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"And I have to say this also, Kate, prosecutors took some cheap shots yesterday in their examination of Stormy Daniels, because for the first time ever, they elicited from Stormy Daniels a suggestion that this sexual encounter may not have been consensual," he added.

"She said she blacked out. She said, I'm not saying he drugged me. She said he was imposing. He was large. He was blocking my access to the door. That's way beyond the scope of anything she said before. And it's way beyond the scope of anything the judge was willing to allow."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

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