Former Cohen attorney on Trump hush money deliberations: ‘Documents speak for themselves’

Lanny Davis, a former lawyer for Michael Cohen, said Monday that the evidence in former President Trump’s hush-money criminal trial may be enough to convict Cohen, dismissing concerns about Cohen’s credibility as the matter heads toward closing arguments and a jury verdict this week.

Davis said, MSNBC Interview He, along with guest host Rev. Al Sharpton, argued that jurors didn’t even need Cohen’s testimony to reach a conclusion.

“The testimony and documents speak for themselves,” he said. “Testimony from Donald Trump supporters and loyalists, including David Pecker and Hope Hicks, all testified about payments that Donald Trump directed Michael Cohen to provide to adult film star Stormy Daniels to silence her before the election.”

Trump faces 34 felony counts of forgery of business documents in the case, the first criminal trial of a sitting or former president. Prosecutors allege that Trump illegally concealed hush money he paid porn actress Stormy Daniels weeks before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an alleged past affair, charges he denies.

Cohen was previously convicted of lying in a deposition, and his testimony was called into question by Trump’s lawyers after they subjected him to tough cross-examination earlier this month. Davis, who represented Cohen in the case in which he was convicted, said she instructed him to plead guilty in 2019.

“I said to him in February of 2019, ‘Michael, the only way you can be believed is to own up to your lies and admit it under oath in front of Congress and on national television,’ and that’s what he did,” Davis said.

“Michael Cohen’s long journey with the corporation included being cross-examined by the same kind of prosecutors, the same kind of lawyers, of Michael Cohen’s former employer, Donald Trump,” he continued. “He [New York] He was assigned to the case by Attorney General Tish James, and the judge found him to be trustworthy and of good faith.”

Davis argued that the “smoking gun” in the case was not Cohen’s testimony but that of Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who signed documents documenting payments made by Trump to Cohen to silence Daniels.

“The documents speak for themselves. What happens in the jury room is, ‘Trust your eyes to deceive,'” he said. “The jury doesn’t need to use any of Michael Cohen’s statements.”

“All a juror has to do is believe [Weisselberg’s] “If you look at the documents, you’ll see that they were repayments of payments that Michael Cohen advanced for the criminal act of bribing Ms. Daniels before the election,” he added. “And that alone is enough to convict Michael Cohen beyond a reasonable doubt without any reliance whatsoever on him.”

Despite his confidence in the evidence, Davis would not predict the outcome of the case. Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday, with the jury’s verdict set to begin shortly after.

If convicted, Trump could be charged with a felon and face up to four years in prison. Davis called the allegations against the former president and Republican presidential nominee “undermine our democracy.”

“There is enough evidence here for a jury to convict beyond a reasonable doubt,” Davis said, “but whatever happens, I will respect the jury’s verdict.”