Former acting attorney general Neal Katyal on Monday expressed his surprise at donald trumpthe apparent air punch towards a witness who witnessed what Katyal described as “incriminating” things about the former president during his hush money trial.
Trump was depicted making a hand gesture toward the Trump Organization’s former longtime corporate controller, Jeffrey McConney, in a sketch by courtroom artist Elizabeth Williams that Ari Melber aired on his MSNBC show “The Beat.”
“According to people in attendance, Trump seemed to want a level of solidarity or whatever a punch means to him,” Melber said. “Once again, I am trying to be fair in my reporting. Even when McConney said incriminating things.”
“Yes, I can’t understand what that punch is doing,” said Katyal. “I mean, McConney was really bad for Trump.”
McConney testified about his role in processing invoices from Trump’s former lawyer and broker michael cohen for Cohen’s secret payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an alleged past affair with Trump.
Trump’s lawyer’s defense “was atrocious,” Katyal said. “He basically said, ‘Look, payments to lawyers by the Trump Organization are legal expenses, right?’ And then he replied, ‘Of course they are.’”
“That’s not the problem,” Katyal added. “Of course if you pay a lawyer in general that is a legal expense, but not if you do it for things other than legal expenses. If I pay a lawyer to give me some cocaine, I can’t say, ‘Oh, it’s a legal payment and therefore it’s all great.’ Of course.”
