OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
During a panel discussion on MSNBC, it was claimed that former attorney Keith Davidson, who represented porn star Stormy Daniels, was a challenging witness for the prosecution and helped the case of former President Donald Trump.
While testifying on Thursday, Davidson confirmed that Trump had committed 34 felonies in relation to his allegedly falsified business records to reimburse Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, for the $130,000 given to Daniels before the 2016 election. Meanwhile, Adam Pollock, a former deputy attorney general of New York, described Davidson’s testimony as “difficult” for the prosecution.
However, MSNBC legal analyst Catherine Christian called it “helpful” for the defense since it would provide Trump’s lawyers with more evidence to claim that Daniels’ lawyer took advantage of the then-candidate.
“I think Davidson is one in a line of difficult witnesses that already come before and are going to be coming in this trial,” Pollock said in response to host Katy Tur asking about how his testimony impacted the prosecution’s case.
“This is a messy trial, and sort of gives us all an insight, a crack into what this sordid world is about between the National Enquirer and selling stories. It’s not pretty to watch,” Pollock added.
“He was helpful in that he established that there was a payoff and he negotiated with Michael Cohen, but he was helpful to the defense because he has, particularly since the prosecution didn’t bring out some of his bad acts on their direct examination, he appears to be in the defense view, just a lawyer who shakes down people, whether it was Hulk Hogan or other people,” Christian said in response to the same question.
“That’s what he did and maybe that’s what happened here. That’s what the defense will say. This was a shakedown of Donald Trump. This wasn’t about paying someone as an illegal campaign contribution. This was a shake-down, and Michael Cohen, it’s an understatement to say how difficult of a witness he is for the prosecution,” Christian added.
In December 2016, Davidson testified that he received a call from Cohen, who he believed was planning to “kill himself” because Trump had not appointed him to a cabinet position.
A CNN panel agreed on Thursday that there isn’t enough evidence to support Trump’s allegation of “direct involvement” in the payments; they noted that the witness testimony has only produced “tidbits” of information and that there aren’t many “receipts” supporting the claim.
WATCH:
Alina Habba, who is one of Donald Trump’s lawyers, has stated that her client cannot be tried fairly in the hush money case due to a perceived bias within the jury regarding politics.
Habba, who is not representing Trump in the falsifying business records trial in New York, expressed her concerns during an interview with Fox News, stating that she is worried about “politicized judges and blue juries” working against him.
Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the hush money trial, has fined Donald Trump $9,000 and has warned him that he could face imprisonment for breaking a gag order that prohibited him from discussing potential witnesses in public.
Trump, who is widely considered as the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has repeatedly claimed that Judge Merchan is biased against him.
Additionally, he has attempted to have the trial moved from Manhattan, which is considered a Democratic stronghold, to Staten Island, which is known to be a Republican stronghold, in an effort to increase his chances of obtaining a fair and impartial jury.
