Former FBI Director James Comey suggested Wednesday that there is an “overwhelming chance” that former President Trump will be convicted in his hush money trial, which concludes this week in New York City.
“The likelihood of a conviction is overwhelming, there is a significant but much smaller chance of a hung jury, and there is zero chance of an acquittal,” Comey said. news nation Wednesday’s interview with Dan Abrams.
President Trump is accused of falsifying business documents in the weeks before the 2016 election in an attempt to conceal payments he made to an adult film star to silence him over allegations of a past affair. Prosecutors rested their case on Monday and the former president’s lawyers did not offer a defense.
Jurors are expected to begin deliberations next week after closing statements.
Prosecutors relied on testimony from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, that the former president deliberately secreted documents to hide hush-money payments and prevent the scandal from damaging his election chances. He claimed it was a forgery.
Comey also reversed his previous recommendation that President Biden pardon President Trump. He said Wednesday that there are no precedents against the former president given his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his other criminal charges that he intentionally concealed classified documents after leaving the White House. He said no charges were warranted.
The former FBI director, who Trump fired in 2017, also said he plans to vote for Biden in November.
“This election is a time for Americans to recognize that our policy differences are subordinate to what we all must share: a commitment to the rule of law,” he said. “I’m going to be voting for Joe Biden because I know what’s at stake.”
He also criticized the former president in an interview on MSNBC on Tuesday, saying Trump was “coming” to the Justice Department.
“He knows their power and I think he regrets not trying harder to bring them down last time. So, he’s coming for them, and that’s a danger to all Americans,” Comey said.
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