CNN Panel Stuns Viewers, Shreds Alvin Bragg’s Case against Trump

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.”

Leading Report @LeadingReport · Follow 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.

“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?'”

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.

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People vs. Donald Trump by Mike Pomerantz - Amazon.com book review - EXCERPTS:

Mike Pomerantz gathered enough evidence to support the view - held by many of his colleagues on the case, including former Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. - that former president Donald Trump should be indicted for a number of financial crimes. But that indictment never happened. This book explains why [according to its author, Mark Pomerantz].
Pomerantz’s work ultimately led to the indictment of the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud [04/10/2024, sentence: 5 months at Rikers]. But that indictment was merely the prelude to a larger criminal case that Pomerantz urged the Manhattan DA, Alvin Bragg, to bring against Donald Trump.
When the Manhattan DA refused to authorize that prosecution, Mike Pomerantz and his colleague Carey Dunne resigned.
About the author
Mark Pomerantz was born in Brooklyn and received a BA from Harvard College in 1972 and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School in 1975.
He worked as a federal prosecutor in the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Pomerantz has also been on the faculty of Columbia Law School and has lectured on criminal procedure and white-collar law at Harvard and Stanford Law Schools.
From February 2021 to February 2022, he worked pro bono as special assistant district attorney in the office of the New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to assist with that office’s criminal investigation into the personal and business finances of former president Donald Trump.

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IMHO: The Manhattan DA's objective in the present case before Judge Juan Merchan, is to take whatever is the result, to the Court of Appeals of New York State - in order for the New York State Court of Appeals Justices to decide the intent of the New York State legislature, re:

The New York statute does not state that there must be a state law violation as the covered-up crime, for elevating a New York State misdemeanor to felony.
The Manhattan DA seeks a decision, that a covered-up federal crime, qualifies for elevating a New York State misdemeanor to felony.

In other words, Mark Pomerantz thinks that he found a window of opportunity for making a mountain out of a mole hill, resulting in elevating "the seriousness of the charges" against Donald Trump.

New York State statute in question:

2021 New York Laws
ELN - Election
Article 17 - Violations of the Elective Franchise
17-152 - Conspiracy to Promote or Prevent Election.

"§ 17-152. Conspiracy to promote or prevent election. Any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor."

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