Michael Cohen, the former Trump fixer now testifying for the prosecution at his former boss' hush money trial, might have turned in such a strong performance earlier this week that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is not bringing in any more witnesses afterwards.
Former U.S. Army prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst Gregg Kirschner said in a video that this is "an unmistakable sign that the prosecutors in Donald Trump's criminal case up in New York believe that Michael Cohen is doing extremely well on the witness stand."
At the beginning of the trial, Bragg suggested that his team had lined up other witnesses to follow Cohen. But he appeared to reverse that position at the end of Tuesday, announcing instead that Cohen would be the last witness before prosecutors' rest their case. Cohen's past proximity to Trump means that his testimony is critical component of the prosecution's case, linking the former president directly to the hush money payments that he stands accused of illegally covering up.
Cohen's testimony may have benefited both from low expectations for his performance and a series of unforced errors by Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, who sought to tar Cohen as motivated by money and pettiness in his cross-examination, drawing rebukes from Judge Juan Merchan.
And the prosecution's case, in turn, may benefit immensely from Cohen's testimony, which alleged that Trump was actively participating in meetings where the scheme was cooked up. "Prosecutors will take full advantage of their rebuttal argument by urging the jury that the evidence overwhelmingly shows that Donald Trump was absolutely part of this criminal scheme," Kirschner said.
