MSNBC host Ari Melber on Thursday said former President Donald Trump’s defense is damaging Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s star witness Michael Cohen in front of the jury.
Cohen, who previously represented Trump, took the stand for cross-examination again Thursday after sparring with the former president’s defense attorney Todd Blanche on Tuesday about his motives and credibility. Melber said Cohen’s Tuesday’s testimony was detrimental, but Thursday’s was significantly worse for his credibility.
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“I think the punches are building cumulatively. I think Tuesday there were bruises and today there’s blood, to extend the metaphor,” Melber said. “I think the collective view is these are moments the jury will remember and they are instilling or adding possible doubts about Michael Cohen’s long-term credibility.”
Cohen’s credibility has come under significant scrutiny because of his multiple admissions of telling lies under oath.
“The question is, does this guy still lie? And if he does still lie about anything, little, medium or large, can you trust him? And the standard is not, okay, do we have to be convinced that he lies about everything? The standard for the jury and why Blanche is making some progress is, by the end of this, does the jury have reasonable doubt about Cohen telling the truth about elements of the crime?” Melber explained.
CNN host Jake Tapper was surprised Cohen on Thursday denied he wanted to work in the Trump White House.
Previous testimony by Bragg’s witness Keith Davidson, who formerly represented [censored] star Stormy Daniels, suggested Cohen desired a role in Trump’s White House and was saddened when the former president did not appoint him. However, Cohen denied that he truly desired a position while under oath.
“Why deny this when there’s literally hundreds of people who know that he wanted to work in the Trump White House?” Tapper asked, later saying, “There is all this testimony, there is all this evidence from Michael Cohen’s phones seized by the FBI and some of it is being used right now to show that Michael Cohen is currently not telling the truth.”
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