As Donald Trump’s 34-felony-count hush money trial takes a break for Memorial Day weekend, a panel of Politico correspondents who have been closely following the proceedings shared their insights on the trial’s trajectory. One legal analyst pointed to a single “amazing document” that could be pivotal in securing a guilty conviction.
Politico’s Josh Gerstein highlighted that former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s testimony might not weigh as heavily with the jury as the damning documents that trace the money used to silence adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
In a discussion with Politico’s Ankush Khardori, Gerstein remarked, “Having sat through a good chunk of that trial, I think, at the end of the day — despite a lot of questions about Michael Cohen’s credibility, and other things that aren’t clear in the trial — that the basic facts of what happened are going to be pretty well established in terms of who has paid what amounts and when.”
Gerstein emphasized the significance of Trump’s role in the payments, noting it was “pretty clear” Trump signed most of these $35,000 reimbursement checks to Cohen. He further revealed the existence of a crucial piece of evidence, stating, “We have this almost amazing document where the Trump financial people are sketching out what this $420,000 to Michael Cohen represents.”
“It’s sort of a dream piece of evidence for prosecutors. I think that that part of the case is going to be pretty well nailed down,” Gerstein said.
He also dismissed the defense’s argument that former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg acted independently without Trump’s knowledge.
“The idea that this was totally freelanced by Weisselberg — the prosecution tried to make that sound basically insane, and that tends to diminish the significance of the actual alleged meeting with Cohen and Trump,” Gerstein explained.
This trial could see Trump facing a serious reckoning, as the compelling evidence mounts against him, pointing to a deliberate and well-documented effort to cover up scandalous payments.
