'Nail in the coffin': Hush money prosecutor reveals surprising crux of case against Trump

Former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case in Manhattan does not actually turn on the testimony of the former president's one-time attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, argued prosecutor Joshua Steinglass as the trial neared its close.

Instead, MSNBC analyst Adam Klasfeld explained in a post on X, the real moment the case was over was when former Trump White House communications official Hope Hicks came to the stand, against her will, and delivered evidence against her former boss whom she still admires.

"Steinglass highlights Hope Hicks' 'devastating' final line of direct: 'I think Mr. Trump's opinion was it was better to be dealing with it now, and that it would have been bad to have that story come out before the election.' Hicks 'basically burst into tears' right after," wrote Klasfeld. "That's because Hicks' testimony was 'the final nail in the coffin' for Trump, Steinglass says."

At that point, Klasfeld noted, Trump's legal team objected, but Judge Juan Merchan overruled them.

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Much of the defense in the case, which charges Trump with business fraud for allegedly concealing the nature of hush payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels, has centered on discrediting the testimony of Cohen, who served as the prosecution's final witness and argued that his own role in facilitating those payments was at Trump's implicit direction and with his knowledge.

Specifically, Trump's defense has sought to portray Cohen as a liar who cannot be trusted, citing his previous false claims to Congress and in several other contexts — claims that Cohen does not deny, but says he did at Trump's own directive.

Some of the greatest drama during the trial came when the defense called Cohen's former legal adviser Robert Costello to the stand, where he proceeded to antagonize the judge and force the courtroom to be cleared.