Jury members in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial are being "treated like chumps," says legal analyst Jonathan Turley. He also believes star prosecution witness Michael Cohen suffered a "dramatic implosion" on Thursday.
Turley, who is a frequent Fox commentator and professor at George Washington University Law School, expresses extreme doubt in a blog that the prosecution has any basis for conviction and poses the question of whether the jury "is realizing that they are being played by the prosecution."
He also says: "With the dramatic implosion of Michael Cohen on the stand on Thursday with the exposure of another alleged lie told under oath, even hosts and commentators on CNN are now criticizing the prosecution and doubting the basis for any conviction."
In an email statement to Newsweek, Turley clarifies, saying: "The Cohen testimony not only highlighted his long legacy of lies but continued claims of false statements in this very trial," adding that "Cohen left the government without a single credible witness to establish any criminal intent by Trump."
Cohen, a former Trump attorney who is now a vocal critic of the former president, is a disbarred lawyer who previously pleaded guilty to tax evasion, bank fraud, campaign finance violations, and lying to Congress. On Monday, he testified before the prosecution, and on Tuesday and Thursday he faced cross-examination by Trump's defense team.
Other lawyers have commented on Cohen's highly-anticipated testimony, and some, like CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, share a similar sentiment to Turley, while others, like Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg, disagree.
"I don't think I've ever seen a star cooperating witness get his knees chopped out quite as clearly and dramatically as what just happened with Michael Cohen," Honig said in reference to Cohen's Thursday testimony.
"Although Todd Blanche [Trump's defense lawyer] landed some punches against Cohen, I thought the prosecution did an excellent job building up a firewall of corroboration to protect their key witness," Aronberg told Newsweek in an email.
"Yes, Cohen lied in the past and is an imperfect witness. But prior witnesses and documents from Trump himself support the core of Cohen's testimony. Nothing that happened in court yesterday changes that."
In a previous comment to Newsweek, Aronberg said, "there has been enough corroboration for his core claims for a jury to reach a guilty verdict."
Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is currently on trial for the fifth week in the criminal hush money case. It's the first time in U.S. history a former president has stood trial in a criminal case. Trump faces 34 felony counts following an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office. He was indicted in March 2023 on charges of falsifying business records relating to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels by Cohen during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Daniels had alleged she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which he has denied. The former president has pleaded not guilty to all charges and said the case against him is politically motivated.
In his blog post entitled "Getting Played: The demolition of Cohen on cross examination reveals 'the grift' to a New York jury," Turley suggests that "there is more to meet the eye about the players" in the courtroom, proposing that "everyone 'around the table' has controversial connections," mainly to the Democratic Party. "There is a surprising degree of cross-pollination," he told Newsweek.
He argues that while "the jurors are unaware of these controversial associations"—which he details as including prosecution lead attorney Matthew Colangelo's political background, presiding Judge Juan Merchan's political donations and his daughter's political affiliations, and Cohen's "checkered history"—they might feel like chumps who have been conned when they learn of the links after the trial.
"This entire production was constructed for their [the jury's] benefit to get them to convict Trump despite the absence of a clear crime or direct evidence," Turley said.
He called the jury, "the marks and, like any good grift, the prosecutors were counting that their desire for a Trump conviction would blind them to the con."
The jury is responsible for determining whether the former president is guilty or not guilty of the 34 offenses charged. They are instructed on and agree to trial rules before the case begins, including agreeing not to discuss the case outside of court, avoiding news about the case, and refraining from conversing with other jury members about the case until official deliberations.
"It's a highly curated experience; jurors are not getting the full picture seen by those who follow along each day," says The Associated Press. This includes the fact that jurors are unaware of Trump's repeated violation of the gag order that prohibits him from speaking to witnesses and family members of the judge and prosecution team. They are also unaware of Cohen's active social media profile, where in the days leading up to his testimony, he posted a TikTok while wearing a shirt that featured a photo of Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars.
Drawing to his conclusion, Turley writes: "New Yorkers are a curious breed. Yes, they overwhelmingly hate Trump, but they also universally hate being treated like chumps. When they get this case, they just might look around the courtroom and decide that they are the suckers in a crooked game."
The prosecution is expected to rest its case soon in the Trump trial, after stating on Tuesday that Michael Cohen will be its last witness.
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Mandy Taheri is a Newsweek reporter based in Connecticut and Brooklyn. She joined Newsweek as a reporter in 2024. She ... Read more
