CNN Legal Analyst Spots ‘Disastrous’ Moment For Prosecutors In Donald Trump Trial
CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig on Tuesday explained why he believes the prosecution’s cross-examination of Stormy Daniels in Donald Trump’s hush money case didn’t go so well.
The former president is accused of falsifying documents to cover up a hush money payment to porn actor Stormy Daniels. The transfer was made before the 2016 election and sought to stop Daniels from talking about an alleged earlier affair with the then-reality TV personality.
Daniels’ testimony on the stand about their alleged sexual encounter was “plausible,” acknowledged former assistant U.S. attorney Honig.
“It’s hard for me to believe that a juror heard that and thought, this is entirely made up,” he told a CNN panel discussing the latest developments of the trial. “There may well be some embellishments […] but I think it’s quite clear they had sex in 2006 in that hotel room,” he added.
The prosecution’s cross-examination of Daniels, though, went awry, he argued.
“The cross-exam, boy. Her responses were disastrous.” Daniels’ admission that she hates Trump was “a big deal,” said Honig.
“When the witness hates the person whose liberty is at stake, that’s a big damn deal,” he explained. “And she’s putting out tweets, fantasizing about him being in jail. That really undermines the credibility.”
That Daniels has vowed never to pay $500,000 in legal fees that she owes Trump will, Honig said, prompt Trump’s defense team to say, “She’s willing to defy a court order. She’s not willing to respect an order from a judge. Why is she gonna respect this oath she took?”
“So, I thought it went quite poorly on cross-exam,” he summarized.
Watch the video here:
Former US President Donald Trump attends his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, on May 7, 2024. Stormy Daniels, the porn actress at the heart of Trump’s hush money trial, was due to testify against the ex-president May 7, US media said, in a blockbuster moment in the courtroom drama rocking the scandal-plagued Republican’s attempt to recapture the White House. (Photo by Win McNamee / POOL / AFP) (Photo by WIN MCNAMEE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo: WIN MCNAMEE via Getty Images)