'Docs were falsified': Ex-judge explains how Cohen links 'the pieces' of Trump’s criminal intent

13 May 2024

Donald Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen — who's considered a key witness in the New York hush money trial against the ex-president — took the stand Monday at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse.

CNN's Jake Tapper spoke to legal analyst Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell about the potential impact of Cohen's testimony, how she believes the jurors will respond and whether or not she thinks the former president will also take the stand in the coming days.

"This was one of the biggest days of the trial so far," Tapper noted, emphasizing that it "seemed to make Mr. Trump the angriest."

The Lead with Jake Tapper host asked Cordell, "What does it feel like as a judge when you see a big witness on upon whom the entire case might hinge take the stand. What is that like as a judge?"

The former Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at Stanford Law School replied, "I chuckle when I hear various pundits weighing in about how various witnesses like Michael Cohen are likely to be perceived by the jurors. I presided over many criminal jury trials, some of them high-profile, and I stopped trying to second-guessed jurors. You just can't do it. So Michael Cohen testified today, and this is one half of the case, meaning it's the prosecution’s side. We don't know how he will hold up in cross-examination."

Cordell continued, "My guess is that he will be well prepared. He's no dummy. He knows the questions that are likely to be asked of him. And that's why the prosecution went to some extent — maybe they should have done a little bit more — talking about the bad stuff about Michael Cohen. That he was the fixer, and he considered himself 'Trump's thug,' those kinds of things. So that it won't hit the jurors brand new when the defense steps up. But you mustn't lose sight of why people are there in the courtroom. They're there in a courtroom because a crime or crimes are being alleged. And in this case, it's about the intent. So if they've established — and they will — that documents were falsified, I think they will do that."

"Then the issue, and part of the crime is, did Trump, with knowledge of these falsified documents, do it with the intent to commit another crime, or to aid or conceal the commission of the crime?" the retired judge asked. "That's the issue here — the intent."

"How do you prove intent, Jake? You can't unless you get inside somebody's head at the time," Cordell emphasized. "So if can't do it that way, then it's proved by circumstantial evidence. And in a trial court, circumstantial evidence is given the same weight as direct evidence. So that's really what this case is about. And Michael Cohen now is kind of pulling all the pieces together. So it's a fascinating story. It's very sad that these kinds of things were going on. But we've only heard part of it. The other part is going to come from the cross-examination of Mr. Cohen, and whether or not any defense is put on at all."

Tapper noted, "Michael Cohen might be the last prosecution witness," asking Cordell, "Do you think it's smart to end the case and the presentation of a case on the testimony of somebody who does have a record, a convicted record of being lot of lying and perjuring?"

Cordell replied, "I think it's fine. And the jurors, they're not naive people. I'm sure there have been other people who have testified in courts who don't have great backgrounds. That's really, in my view, not going to have an impact on the jurors. I do want to add, though, that with regard to the defense side, Donald Trump's latest rant just a few minutes ago in front of everyone is exactly the reason why he won't be testifying. He is a loose cannon."

She emphasized, "And another point about that rant: He said that there was no crime. He did not deny anything. He didn't deny the payment. He didn't deny the affair. He just said, ‘What I did was not a crime.' I think it's just proof that he is definitely not going to be testifying, because he can't be controlled once he starts talking."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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