Why whether Stormy Daniels 'was telling the truth or not' on the stand is 'almost irrelevant': legal expert

Since Donald Trump's New York hush money trial adjourned Tuesday, legal experts have floated predictions about whether or not the jury will convict the ex-president based on witness testimonies.

In connection to the allegations that the MAGA hopeful paid adult film actress Stormy Daniels $130,000 to stay quiet during his 2016 presidential campaign, ABC News reported earlier this month that "Daniels' description of her night with Trump served a crucial purpose for prosecutors," according to ex-prosecutor and ABC News legal contributor Chris Timmons.

ABC also noted, "It wasn't just the alleged intimate details that stand to impact the case -- Daniels' testimony about her conversations with Trump, including him allegedly telling her not to worry about his wife, Melania Trump – could help build the prosecution's case that the hush money payment was made to protect not his family, but his campaign."

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However, during a conversation with MSNBC's Ari Melber Thursday, legal analyst and former FBI counsel Andrew Weissmann submitted that Daniels' testimony really doesn't matter all that much.

"I was in court for Stormy Daniels' testimony," Weissman said."The whole case here is about that Donald Trump is accused of not wanting her story to come out, and he had a cross examination of her that was hammer and tongs. And her testimony wasn't even all that important to the case."

The former FBI attorney continued, "Whether she was telling the truth or not was really almost, almost irrelevant because the issue is did he want that story to be out there or not. But [former National Enquirer publisher] David Pecker and [former Trump aide] Hope Hicks, who had very damaging information to give to the jury, they had very light cross examinations."

"So, in many ways, what you saw, with respect to Stormy Daniels, was almost a continuation of the reason he didn't want, in 2016, this story to come out," Weissmann emphasized.

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"He still is adamant in trying to prove that this did not happen, and didn't want people to believe it. And you saw it in court, and it's what the actual charge is, and finally think Stormy Daniels did a really good job." He added, "She was wicked smart."

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