George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley argued that the judge in Donald Trump’s New York trial for falsifying business records may have committed reversible error by allowing prosecutors to claim Trump violated federal election laws.
Turley said the judge should not have permitted the prosecution, led by former Biden official Michael Colangelo, to repeatedly tell the jury the $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels did violate federal laws, as that has not been proven.
“I got to tell you, I think this judge may have already committed reversible error,” Turley said. “He could try to amend it, he could try to change it in his instructions, but that jury has now been told repeatedly that there are federal election crimes here, strongly suggesting that the payment to Stormy Daniels did violate federal election laws. That’s just not true.”
Turley also previewed that former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, a star witness for prosecutors, will essentially ask the jury to send his former client to jail for following his own legal advice regarding the payment structure.
Turley called Cohen testifying against Trump’s interests a “bizarre moment.”
“Michael Cohen is literally going to tell that jury, ‘Please send my client to jail for following my legal advice,’” Turley said. “All of the stuff that they are talking about, he set up, he structured this and told his client that, ‘we could do this.’”
“It’s a bizarre moment,” he added.
Turley also noted a recent New York Court of Appeals ruling that “erroneously admitted” testimony in the Harvey Weinstein trial required a new trial.
