CNN, the network that spent the majority of its airtime attacking President Donald Trump at every turn throughout his presidency, appears to have shifted direction, if the sentiment of their panel on Alvin Bragg‘s Case against Trump is anything to go by.
On Thursday, a panel of CNN analysts agreed that the Manhattan case against Trump is all but doomed due to the lack of evidence.
David Chalian told his colleagues, “I’ve seen precious little evidence presented yet that Trump wasn’t floating above.”
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BREAKING: Members of a CNN panel agreed that Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg has thus far failed to show significant evidence that former President Donald Trump was directly involved in the payments over which he is charged. pic.twitter.com/04zL8oA5uX
— Leading Report (@LeadingReport) May 3, 2024
“I mean, I’ve seen very little evidence of Trump’s direct involvement in getting this accomplished. Correct me if I’m wrong.”
“No, you’re right. A lot of that’s going to come from Michael Cohen,” CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said, the Daily Caller reports.
“But also there was a few tidbits in David Pecker’s testimony, right, that there were direct communications, but it’s a great point, David,’ he said.
“There hasn’t been much evidence yet directly of Donald Trump’s involvement and knowledge.”
The opening days of Trump’s trial focused on testimony of former National Enquirer publisher, David Pecker, who told the court that he worked with former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to implement a “catch and kill” strategy toward stories that could hurt the Republican’s campaign in 2016.
Pecker found Cohen to be “prone to exaggeration,” which CNN said is likely to hurt District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case.
“Prosecutors certainly haven’t proven their entire case, you know, their burden now by any stretch of the imagination,” CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams said.
“And in all likelihood, if they’re doing their jobs, future witnesses will help tease a lot of this information out.”
“But something that certainly has not been established thus far, eight or nine days in is, ‘well, what can we say about the involvement of the actual defendant?'”
“Need the receipts,” CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger added.
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The former lawyer to adult film star Stormy Daniels, Keith Davidson, faced a brutal cross-examination on Thursday as he was characterized as an extortionist as well as defense attorneys sought cast Trump as a victim of a shakedown.
Secret recordings between Davidson and Cohen reveal that Trump hated “the fact that we did it,” referencing the payment to Daniels.
When asked how many celebrities he has sought settlement payments from on behalf of clients, Davidson said, “I don’t recall.”
Trump’s attorney Emil Bove also shifted the blame on the payment to Cohen, whom he said was
desperate for a job in the White House and became “despondent” when he didn’t get one.
“I thought he was going to kill himself,” Davidson said of Cohen at one point.
Trump faces 34 felony charges related to documentation around the payment to Daniels.
Bragg’s phoney case is the only one likely to be completed before Election and is one of the weakest among Trump’s four criminal cases.
READ: CNN Host Stunned as Poll Shows Trump’s Popularity with Minority Voters
