The decision by Donald Trump to use his Truth Social platform to go after potential jurors in his Manhattan hush money trial has resulted in his lawyers going into the weekend completely clueless about who they will be cross-examining when the actual trial begins early next week, an expert said Friday.
A decision by Judge Juan Merchan allowed prosecutors to deny Trump's legal team a list of the first three witnesses Manhattan District AttorneyAlvin Bragg's office plans to start the trial with after opening arguments.
Bragg's team had argued Trump's habit of going after people involved in the case on social media meant they were reluctant to give him notice of who was lined up.
Attorney Mark Herrmann, writing for the Daily Beast, said the former president's antics with regard to his social media postings left his legal team handcuffed when it came to trial preparation.
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As he explained, "Will the first witness be Stormy Daniels? If so, Trump’s lawyers would plan one line of attack. Or will the first witness be Michael Cohen? If so, Trump’s lawyers would sharpen their pencils in an entirely different way. Or will the first witness be Doug Daus, a computer forensics expert in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office? The cross-examination of Daus would have nothing in common with the cross-examinations of Daniels or Cohen. Or perhaps the first witness will be Hope Hicks, Trump’s press secretary in 2016, or David Pecker, who runs the National Enquirer. Or a multitude of others."
Elaborating on that point, he continued, "Instead of having an entire 48 hours to concentrate on just three witnesses, Trump’s lawyers are now being forced to do scattershot preparation, searching the backgrounds and thinking strategically about how to question literally dozens of potential witnesses."
He said Trump has now handcuffed his own lawyers and put them in an unenviable position of having to play catch-up when the first of the three witnesses take the stand.
"Trump’s actions, at last, do have consequences. For no reason other than he can’t help himself, Trump’s made it immensely harder for his legal team to help him," he concluded.
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