Donald Trump will struggle to argue that the "hush money" he arranged to keep an alleged affair he had a secret was only to protect his marriage to Melania Trump, a legal expert believes.
Andrew Weissmann, attorney and former FBI General Counsel, made the remarks while discussing how the jury in the falsifying business records trial will soon hear stories about Trump's alleged extramarital affairs and how the former president took steps to stop them coming out in "gruesome" detail.
Weissman said the Manhattan District Attorney's Office looks set to put forward evidence that Trump originally hoped to delay paying money to adult film star Stormy Daniels until after the 2016 election, by which point the story would "matter" anymore and he could end up not paying the money at all.
The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in relation to "hush money" he arranged for his former lawyer Michael Cohen to pay Daniels to keep an alleged affair she had with Trump a secret in the run-up to the 2016 election. The money was listed in Trump's company records as "legal fees," which prosecutors suggest was part of an unlawful attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 presidential race.
Trump admits reimbursing the $130,000 hush money to Cohen but denies having an affair with Daniels.
Speaking to MSNBC, Weissmann said the trial will focus on the so-called "catch and kill" strategy from Trump's team and tabloid National Enquirer to purchase exclusive rights to negative stories about the Republican that would threaten to derail his White House bid, which would then never get published.
"One of the key pieces of evidence for the DA seems to be to refute the idea that he wanted to do this just to keep it from Melania is Donald Trump saying well, let's see if we can do this later because we may not have to pay if it's later and if lose the election, who cares whether it comes out, because I'm not doing this to keep it for my wife, I'm doing to keep it from the electorate," Weissmann said.
In April 2023, the Manhattan DA's office released a statement of facts regarding their investigating saying that Trump instructed Cohen to delay paying Daniels the $130,000 sum for as "long as possible" in the hopes that after the 2016 Election they could "avoid paying altogether, because at that point it would not matter if the story became public."
Trump's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
Melania Trump has not appeared in court alongside the former president in the first days of the historic trial in New York. The former first lady has reportedly called the proceedings into her husband as a "disgrace," according to The New York Times.
During the first day of trial, Judge Juan Merchan read a list of possible witnesses to potential jurors who could be called to testify, which included Melania Trump.
However, legal experts have suggested that Trump's wife will not be called upon to testify against the former president due to spousal privilege, as well as her lack of involvement in the allegations against the former president.
"In fact, she's the putative victim in the illicit sex part of the story," former federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek.
"Any government attempt to force her to be present as a potential witness would just feed Trump's preferred narrative that the case is about airing salacious rumors instead of holding Trump accountable for crimes."
Uncommon Knowledge
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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