OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A CNN panel got fiery when talking about the Manhattan trial of former President Donald Trump involving alleged hush money payments to adult movie star Stormy Daniels.
Renowned hater of the former president, George Conway, the ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway, went at it with fellow attorney Arthur Aidala. The argument started with a debate about what a reasonable doubt would be in the case.
“At the end of the day, what’s a reasonable doubt?” Conway said. “A reasonable doubt has to be that there has to be some plausible, alternative explanation for all these things that happened, and at the end of the day, I think it’s gonna be hard for the jury to believe that Donald Trump didn’t know that these payments were for–”
But Aidala interrupted his soliloquy with some reality.
“George, at the end of the day, an experienced lawyer of your magnitude, you know what you would say if you were tried in this case? You know what you would say to the jury? ‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you’re one of the luckiest juries around because you got to meet Mr. Reasonable Doubt. You saw him walking here, you saw him walk in here, you saw him take the stand.’ If there’s any human being on the planet Earth that should be–his picture should be next to the definition ‘reasonable doubt,’ it’s Michael Cohen,” the attorney said.
“No, no, no,” Conway, who makes no secret about the fact that he wants to see the former president in prison, said.
“Why? His history of being a liar, of being a fraud,” Aidala said.
“As opposed to the defendant?” Conway said, laughing.
“The defendant’s credibility, unless he takes the stand, is not on trial,” Aidala said.
“It is! Because he’s been saying all sorts of stuff. They’ve been showing him lying and lying and lying,” Conway said.
“No, no, no! It is all about Michael Cohen,” Aidala said. “Two months ago, he got in trouble, Michael Cohen, for submitting fake cases to a judge when he has his probation. He lied to a federal judge two months ago!”
“Show us something he lied about that has something to do with what he’s saying on the stand!” Conway said.
“The guy spent Christmas in Otisville. Everyone should know that’s a prison,” Aidala said.
WATCH:
CNN panelists battle over the credibility, or lack of, former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. Can't believe this is even a question. pic.twitter.com/dTsZLWJ5Tf
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) May 11, 2024
Former President Trump’s chief spokeswoman, Alina Habba, railed against the direct examination of adult film star Stormy Daniels regarding her alleged sexual encounter with the real estate mogul following highly salacious testimony earlier this week.
Habba, in an interview with Fox News, noted that Daniels gave hours of testimony revealing highly sensitive details about the alleged encounter that most news outlets did not cover due to their highly “salacious” nature. Judge Juan Merchan upheld several defense objections but rejected Todd Blanche’s request for a mistrial on behalf of Trump.
In an appearance on “America’s Newsroom,” Habba, herself an attorney, was critical of the questioning.
“I ask you about yesterday’s testimony,” co-anchor Dana Perino began. “Okay, so I know you can’t talk about Stormy Daniels testimony, but maybe you could comment on this. Judge Merchan talked about the defense, complaining about the testimony. He said, ‘I agree it would have been better if some of these things had been left unsaid,’ but they were already said in front of the jury.”
“Yeah, this is the problem here. And the judge did try and put guardrails with the prosecution and say that these are the guardrails,” Habba began.
“Let’s just go back to basics here. This is about books and records keeping. This is about somebody in Trump Tower who registered a legal fee as a legal fee payment. Okay. That’s it. A payment to Michael Cohen, who was an attorney. To reimburse him– was a legal fee. That’s what this case is about. Where was President Trump? In the White House,” she added. “And they’re trying to now make this a very salacious, you know–. It’s a, it’s a complete extortion situation.”
