'Really bad' for Trump: Ex-prosecutor says jury is focusing in on 'conspiracy' elements
The jury appears to be homing in on the "conspiracy" elements of the Manhattan criminal hush money case, said former federal prosecutor David Kelley on MSNBC Wednesday — and that's a disturbing sign for former President Donald Trump.
This comes after the jury asked Judge Juan Merchan for a refresher on testimony from David Pecker and Michael Cohen, former Trump associates who formed key parts of the prosecution's case.
"So, it might sound worse for Trump, better for the prosecution, because they're now going to hear it back and know that Hope Hicks and Trump's personal secretary and, yes, Cohen, whatever you think of him, a lot of other people added to Pecker's testimony," said anchor Ari Melber, himself an attorney. "I never heard — and again, I try to cover this as fairly as I can — I never heard anyone really undercut his core points. Here's what he said about his consciousness of all of this. Even while he's doing it, the defense is saying, it happens all the time. Pecker, whose direct testimony says, he told his own 'Enquirer' leadership, he told them, we're going to try and help the campaign. We're going to keep it as quiet as possible. I want it confidential. Is that bad?"
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"Yeah, it is bad," confirmed Kelley. "It really paints a picture the nature of this conspiracy."
"I think that, you know, you hit the nail on the head a minute ago," he continued. "Pecker's ... credibility wasn't really challenged in a meaningful way. So, they're getting Pecker's story. And they're going to see how Cohen's story fits into that. And I think the portions you read, his story does fit into that. And that's exactly what the prosecutors wanted. They wanted to paint this picture, and they wanted it corroborated. They wanted all the pieces to fit together."
"That's what the jury appears to be doing, is taking a piece that is kind of a given, Pecker, and taking, you know, Cohen and saying, does this really fit in there?" Kelley added. "And it does. That's a problem for the defense."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
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