Donald Trump’s legal team is struggling to counter the evidence presented by Michael Cohen in the hush-money case, according to attorney Greg Germain.
Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, has testified that Trump instructed him to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged affair.
Trump’s lawyers have yet to provide a plausible explanation for the payment, which prosecutors argue was an illegal campaign contribution intended to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump’s Legal Team Struggles to Counter Cohen’s Damaging Evidence
Germain, a law professor at Syracuse University, told Newsweek that Trump’s team has failed to present an alternative theory that explains why Cohen would take out a home loan to pay Daniels without an agreement to be reimbursed.
He also questioned why someone else in Trump’s organization would authorize Cohen’s reimbursement without Trump’s knowledge. “The problem for Trump is that he hasn’t advanced an alternative theory that is even plausible,” Germain said.
Cohen’s testimony has been damaging to Trump, and their bitter feud has played out on social media. Trump’s team has tried to discredit Cohen, but Germain believes that even if the jury doesn’t like Cohen, there’s no reason to doubt that there was an arrangement between Trump and Cohen to reimburse him for the hush money.
However, Germain notes that proving election interference is a different matter and will be very difficult to prove. Trump’s only counter-argument is that he told his communications manager, Hope Hicks, that Cohen paid the money to Daniels without being asked, but Germain finds this argument unconvincing.
