'Amazing document' in Trump hush money trial a 'dream piece of evidence': legal analyst

With Donald Trump's 34-felony-count hush money trial on pause until after the Memorial Day weekend, a panel of Politico correspondents who have been sitting through the proceedings were asked where they see the trial heading, with one legal analyst suggesting a guilty conviction could hinge on what he termed one "amazing document."

According to Politico's Josh Gerstein, the testimony of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen may play less of a factor with the jury than the documents presented to the jury showing the money trail that led to adult film star Stormy Daniels being paid off before the 2016 presidential election.

Asked by Politico's Ankush Khardori what stood out in particular, Gerstein suggested, "Having sat through a good chunk of that trial, I think, at the end of the day — despite a lot of questions about Michael Cohen’s credibility, and other things that aren’t clear in the trial — that the basic facts of what happened are going to be pretty well established in terms of who has paid what amounts and when."

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Noting it was "pretty clear" Trump signed "most of these $35,000 reimbursement checks to Cohen," he added, "We have this almost amazing document where the Trump financial people are sketching out what this $420,000 to Michael Cohen represents."

He then added, "It’s sort of a dream piece of evidence for prosecutors. I think that that part of the case is going to be pretty well nailed down."

Gerstein also suggested that it was a non-starter for the defense to assert that former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg kept Trump in the dark about the purpose of the cash disbursement.

"But the idea that this was totally freelanced by Weisselberg — the prosecution tried to make that sound basically insane, and that tends to diminish the significance of the actual alleged meeting with Cohen and Trump," he explained.

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