John Dean, White House counselor to former President Nixon, said in an interview on Saturday that the New York criminal trial against former President Trump is “very powerful” ahead of this week’s highly anticipated testimony from former Trump fixer Michael Cohen.
Dean said in a CNN Interview who has read the trial transcripts and thinks the prosecution has presented a compelling case that can stand on its own, independent of Cohen’s testimony.
“It’s a very powerful case that the government has made in New York,” he said. “They really filled in a lot of the gaps and built a structure such that Michael Cohen can come in and testify.”
“And it’s already been largely corroborated, with other witnesses… who don’t necessarily have an ax to grind, as well as documents,” Dean continued. “So they’ve laid a real foundation for next week.”
On Monday, Trump’s former personal lawyer came face to face once again with the former president in a Manhattan courtroom.
Cohen, taking the stand in Trump’s hush money case, is the prosecution’s star witness in a case accusing Trump of falsifying 34 business records about a $130,000 hush money payment that Cohen sent to a porn star to keep her silent about an alleged affair with the then-2016 Candidate.
There has been a consistent effort to portray Cohen as an unreliable witness, as Cohen has indicated he wants to see Trump behind bars. But Dean said he still hopes Cohen will be a strong witness.
On whether Cohen’s testimony could be undermined by his grudge against Trump, Dean said: “Well, that will depend on the jury, obviously, and different people will interpret it in different ways. Just because there’s a grudge match going on here doesn’t mean the jury won’t believe him.”
“That will put the burden of being persuasive a little heavier on him. But I saw Michael testify before the House committee several years ago – he was a very good witness. They tried to impeach him and then the Trump supporters on the panel, and they didn’t do very well. He behaved well. He has charisma,” he continued.
“I think he’s being very brave in what he’s doing and people will recognize that. It’s not easy going up against Team Trump, especially when the campaign is also underway,” Dean added.
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