frankj1 wrote:Robert, I can easily see enough doubt in the minds of jurors based on the stuff that people like us discuss here...
but are any of the charges based on if sex happened, or if she extorted him, or any of the other stuff that makes for splashy headlines?
Originally I thought it would be a dryer trial based on corporate money maneuvers...no?
She did nothing illegal.
Trump did nothing illegal either- until he wrote reimbursement checks for the payoff allegedly with corporate funds to hide the expense as a legitimate business expenses, when they were not. Then, it is alleged to have been done to influence the election. The prosecution must prove both.
It's a simple document case with Trump on tape agreeing to the payoff plus Weisselberg's handwritten note of the payoff plan from his corporate file. Trump signed the checks, which is undisputed. Hope Hicks testified on its effect on campaign strategy. Part of the defense will be that Cohen went rogue. The jury gets to decide.
Stormy would not have had to be on the stand for more than a few minutes had Trump never denied the affair, which required the prosecution to prove it by getting into gratuitous, salacious details.
My professional GUESS is that one of the lawyers on the jury will be the Foreperson and that there will be a hung-jury.