'Yesterday was a reality hit' for Trump's lawyers: CNN's Elie Honig

Now that a date has been set for former President Donald Trump's federal election interference trial for next March, the prospect of fighting to stay out of prison in a court of law has suddenly gotten real in a way it hasn't been up to this point.

That's the view of former federal prosecutor Elie Honig, who walked through the implications of the trial for Trump on CNN Tuesday morning.

"The trial itself, Elie — he is going to be sitting in a courtroom. We are going to be hearing arguments," said anchor Phil Mattingly. "It is not going to be PR statements and people yelling on TV. This is in a courtroom. What does that mean? Take people inside that courtroom."

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"It's a whole different ball game," said Honig. "I think yesterday was a reality hit for Donald Trump's team. It is clear we are going to have one, maybe two trials between now and the election. When you're on a criminal trial, you have to physically be there as the defendant. We remember the E. Jean Carroll trial a few months ago. That was a civil case. He will have to be physically in the courtroom."

"It's a full day," Honig continued. "It's a long day. Trials usually start 9, 10 in the morning and go to 4, 5 in the afternoon. He will be in D.C. He will be in Florida. And so he will be physically off the campaign trail."

"I think it will be really interesting to see, from a political perspective, how does that play?" added Honig. "Presumably he'll be getting wall-to-wall coverage. Not a good time when you're a defendant in the criminal case, but presumably he will get a ton of media coverage but won't be out there at rallies. He won't be able to go — not door to door, not shake hands with people and be mixed in with the normal time of campaign activity. I don't know how that will play, ultimately."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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