I just spoke with Ty Cobb, who defended Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial.
He has been following the case closely.
Cobb says that Cohen is clearly “a smarmy character” whom the defence needs to discredit – something that Trump’s lawyer Todd Blanche has been working on today.
He notes that the jury will be instructed by the judge “that they can reject the entire testimony of any person who they find has lied”.
“Cohen’s conviction for lying to Congress alone allows them to ignore legally everything he says,” Cobb tells me.
“His lies are so extensive and numerous, the cross can’t catalogue them all and shouldn’t. They need to wrap it up.”
But based on the amount of evidence that has been admitted so far, Cobb says that he feels certain that prosecutors will win their case.
But he thinks Trump will “never go to jail for these bookkeeping offences” because the state has not tied them to another felony.
“I also think it is likely – or at least a toss-up – that the case does not survive an appeal,” he adds.
