'Trump committed these crimes': Ex-federal prosecutor says DA proved case 'beyond all doubt'

As both the Manhattan District Attorney's office and former President Donald Trump's defense team prepare to make their closing arguments to the jury next week, one former federal prosecutor feels particularly confident about the prosecution's chances.

In a video posted to his X (formerly Twitter) account on Thursday, Glenn Kirschner — a former assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia — explained why he felt prosecutors had the wind at their backs heading into the tail end of Trump's hush money cover-up trial. Kirschner emphasized that all jurors needed to do was use their "common sense" and apply it to the evidence already submitted. He also discounted the defense's attempt to discredit the testimony of former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen.

"Who benefited from this scheme? Not Michael Cohen. Donald Trump," Kirschner argued.

READ MORE: 'Awful day for the defense': Atty says Trump lawyers 'struck out' with Costello testimony

Defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles rested their case earlier this week after calling their second and final witness, attorney Robert Costello. While Costello was called to cast doubt on the credibility of Cohen's testimony, he may have harmed his own credibility as a witness even more. Judge Juan Merchan admonished Costello for his behavior in the courtroom after he rolled his eyes and made utterances under his breath, and even threatened to strike his entire testimony from the record.

"The defense really didn't put on anything of consequence," Kirschner said. "And of course, Donald Trump opted not to try to defend himself from the witness stand in this court proceeding."

Following the conclusion of Costello's testimony, Merchan met with both the prosecution and the defense to hash out jury instructions. Eventually it was agreed that while all jurors had to unanimously agree that Trump falsified business records to cover up a separate "predicate" crime, they did not all have to agree on what the predicate crime was. Merchan laid out three possible predicate crimes: Tax-related offenses, violation of state campaign finance law and violation of federal campaign finance law.

In his video, Kirschner believed that burden of proof was met more than adequately by the prosecution. He opined that while Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's team only had to prove Trump was guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt," they went above and beyond that standard in making their case.

READ MORE: Judge Merchan to jury: Here's what needs to be proven in order to convict Trump of felonies

"The evidence has proved, friends, beyond all doubt. Not just beyond a reasonable doubt. Beyond all doubt," Kirschner said. "Donald Trump committed these crimes. And we're simply asking [the jury] to hold him accountable for the decision he made to violate New York state law. Hold him accountable by returning verdicts of guilty."

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records relating to a hush money payment scheme he allegedly orchestrated to buy the silence of women claiming to have had extramarital affairs with him. Prosecutors argue that the crime wasn't the hush money payments themselves, but Trump disguising the payments as legal fees to Cohen.

Cohen testified under oath that he and Trump had an agreement that Cohen would front the payments, and would later be reimbursed by Trump directly. Prosecutors argue that because the hush money was paid as a means of preventing the women from speaking publicly about their alleged affairs (which Trump still denies) before the 2016 election, that the hush money was an illegal campaign expenditure.

Watch Kirschner's video below, or by clicking this link.

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