'Spotlight the sleaze': Trump prosecutors are 'captivating the jury' in hush money trial

According to multiple legal observers, prosecutors overseeing the 34-felony count hush money trial of Donald Trump in a Manhattan courtroom are doing an excellent job of getting the jury's attention after two weeks of testimony.

With the testimony of former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and ex-White House aide Hope Hicks, members of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office have brought to the forefront the more lurid elements of the case that involves not only paying off adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, but also how the former president worked hand-in-hand with Pecker to smear his rivals.

According to a report from the New York Times, a prosecution strategy to "spotlight the sleaze" is paying off for the prosecution.

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"By foregrounding the conspiracy, prosecutors are captivating the jury while laying a foundation for evidence about the business records to emerge. As soon as next week, prosecutors are expected to begin connecting the dots between the smut and the substance," the Times is reporting.

According to Marc F. Scholl, who worked for decades in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, "It was a smart way to start the case."

Former federal prosecutor Steven M. Cohen agreed, telling the Times, "The fundamental truth is that you take your witnesses as you find them, and inevitably the sleazy, unethical and dubious conduct that was carried out by the witnesses will leave them vulnerable to attack by the defense. But those witnesses will no doubt be quick to remind the jury that they were not the authors of that conduct. Mr. Trump was.”

The Times report added, "In the coming days, prosecutors are expected to pivot to the accusation that Mr. Trump falsified the records related to Mr. [Michael] Cohen’s reimbursement. They are likely to question employees at Mr. Trump’s company who handled the payment, and then, in what could be the crucial moment of the trial, call Mr. Cohen to the stand to say that the former president engineered the false records."

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