Members of a CNN panel on Thursday agreed that Democratic Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has thus far failed to show significant evidence that former President Donald Trump was directly involved in the payments over which he is charged.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of allegedly falsifying business documents in relation to reimbursing his former attorney Michael Cohen for $130,000 paid to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election. The CNN panel said there has not been substantial evidence of Trump’s role as there are not many “receipts” and the witness testimony has only yielded “tidbits” of it.
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“I’ve seen precious little evidence presented yet that Trump wasn’t floating above,” CNN political director David Chalian said. “I mean, I’ve seen very little evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in getting this accomplished. Correct me if I’m wrong.”
“No, you’re right. A lot of that’s going to come from Michael Cohen,” CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said. “But also there was a few tidbits in David Pecker’s testimony, right, that there were direct communications, but it’s a great point, David. There hasn’t not been much evidence yet directly of Donald Trump’s involvement and knowledge.”
David Pecker, former National Enquirer publisher, has suggested in his testimony that he did not perceive Cohen as reliable, agreeing he was “prone to exaggeration.”
“Prosecutors certainly haven’t proven their entire case, you know, their burden now by any stretch of the imagination,” CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams said. “And in all likelihood, if they’re doing their jobs, future witnesses will help tease a lot of this information out. But something that certainly has not been established thus far, eight or nine days in is, well, what can we say about the involvement of the actual defendant?”
“Need the receipts,” CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger said.
The panel also commented that Trump’s alleged lack of email use has benefited him in the trial.
Criminal defense attorney Arthur Aidala recently told CNN that Trump’s signature is solely present on a check while other crucial records were not personally signed by the former president, suggesting the potential for a jury to find “reasonable doubt” over his involvement when compared to Cohen.
