The previous president has additionally taken intention at a few of Mr. Bragg’s key witnesses, hurling threats and social media screeds of their path. Mr. Cohen, specifically, has felt the brunt of the assaults from Mr. Trump, who has sued him, known as him a “rat” and referred to him as “dying.” Their confrontation within the courtroom, the place Mr. Cohen would be the star witness, is anticipated to be the climactic second of the trial.
But when Mr. Trump have been to take the stand, Mr. Cohen could be shortly overshadowed. The previous president is prone to delay a ultimate choice till he is aware of whether or not the choose will prohibit prosecutors’ efforts to cross-examine him, and till he can assess the efficiency of his former fixer.
The jurors can be assessing Mr. Cohen, too. If even one doesn’t imagine his testimony, the trial might finish with a hung jury, a transparent victory for the previous president. Todd Blanche, the lawyer main the case, has instructed Mr. Trump in latest weeks that he can win the trial, individuals with data of the dialogue stated.
The case could possibly be received or misplaced throughout jury choice, within the subsequent two weeks. The expectation is that many potential jurors can be Manhattan Democrats with animus for Mr. Trump. The previous president’s attorneys are hoping to identify sympathizers and can give attention to youthful Black males and white working-class males.
However Mr. Trump might battle even with sympathetic jurors if he chooses to testify. On the civil fraud trial, the choose — who determined that case as an alternative of a jury — was not impressed.
He “not often responded to the questions requested, and he often interjected lengthy, irrelevant speeches,” the choose wrote in his choice, including, “His refusal to reply the questions straight, or in some instances, in any respect, severely compromised his credibility.”