Both a political expert and a legal expert agreed that Donald Trump's lawyers are failing to craft a story for the jury in the former president's first criminal case involving an alleged hush money cover-up.
Speaking on a panel for MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace, former top Justice Department prosecutor Andrew Weissmann explained that the most important thing in a case is to ensure a juror at least remembers the testimony. Trump's side hasn't been all that memorable, the experts suggested.
"It's too early to say this is where the jury will be. They will definitely take the judge's instructions: do not deliberate until the end. However, trials are about narratives," explained Weissmann. "And there was a very clear narrative from the state here as to what happened."
Read Also: Bad for Trump: No one ever experienced a criminal trial and escaped the ordeal unscathed
He explained that the story from the Manhattan D.A. hangs together with the little details that witnesses can add as they come to the stand. That story will all come together and "make sense."
The jury "will see — it's the state's job to put in the details, but this is a very clear story," he continued. On the defense side, however, "there was no story. ... It doesn't hang together."
Political analyst John Heilemann said that the defense needs a "counter-narrative" and there hasn't been one thus far.
The group recalled a Thursday conversation about David Pecker, the former chief of AMI/National Enquirer. In one moment the defense was making him out to be a liar. The next they were characterizing him as misremembering a name. The consistency isn't there for the defense, they said.
Wallace said the counter-narrative is necessary "because, by the end of it, the jury will have heard a lot of witnesses," explaining that everything needs to be brought together.
"The credibility of David Pecker came through, if you thought this was a sleazy dude. The detail of it and the emotional bond that was laid bare makes you think he may be a scoundrel, but he's probably telling the truth," Heilemann explained.
See the discussion in the video below or at the link.
Experts show how Trump's lawyer flubbed testimony this week youtu.be
