Trump Indictment: CBS Colorado legal analyst says witnesses will be highly scrutinized
America watched as former President Donald Trump walked into a courtroom to face criminal charges on Tuesday. The case involves allegations of a Trump payoff to a one-time pornography movie actress Stormy Daniels.
CBS News Colorado legal analyst Karen Steinhauser says the witnesses in the case will be highly scrutinized.
"Regardless of what her occupation is or was ... from a defense perspective the credibility is always going to be something that is is looked at."
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen has claimed he funneled the payoffs from Trump to Daniels to keep the story out the media before the 2016 election. Prosecutors claim to have paperwork showing Trump falsified business records.
"It's often times harder to discredit documents then it is individuals," said Steinhauser.
The former president pleaded not guilty, has denied the payments and has denied having sex with Daniels.
The indictment also spells out the statement of facts provided by the District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Included in that statement are allegations that Trump directed a cash payment to a second woman who claimed she had sex with him and wanted to sell her story. There is also a claim that a doorman was paid to keep a story quiet that Trump had fathered an illegitimate child. The doorman's story was later determined to be false.
Legal analyst Steinhauser added, "From the defendant's standpoint, it is to either somehow find a way to get the whole case thrown out or ultimately to have a jury reach a not guilty verdict."
Lawyers for the former president indicated they would file a motion to have the charges dismissed.
Steinhauser, who has been both a prosecutor and a member of defense teams, sees a flurry of motions ahead from the Trump team, including:
- Perhaps to move the trial out of New York City
- To have the judge, Juan Mershan, removed.
The judge has presided over other cases involving the Trump organization. The former president recently posted that he believes the judge hates him.
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