Former Judge John E. Jones III criticized Republican vice presidential contenders for "auditioning" by attending Donald Trump's hush money trial.
During a Tuesday interview on CNN, Jones said that Trump's attorney, Todd Blanche, could lose the case unless Michael Cohen's cross-examination goes well.
"I'll tell you what, Michael Cohen is gonna be pretty much disemboweled on cross-examination," he explained. "This'll be Todd Blanche's cross-examination moment in his life. And he's gotta discredit this witness because that's the only way you win this case, in my view."
Jones also noted that Trump had effectively subverted Justice Juan Merchan's limited gag order by having his surrogates speak to the press from the courthouse.
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"You know, if ever there was a time when a judge had to tune out the outside noise, here's one of them, because we're all too human," Jones said of Merchan. "It's incredible to me what he's having to endure to sit and preside in this case."
"But this is really unprecedented," he added. "You know, we're seeing a criminal trial where people who are auditioning to become the Vice President of the United States are attending and, you know, despite the sort of sordid material in the trial, they're sitting there, you know, giving the death stare to the judge."
ABC News noted that several potential vice presidential candidates, including Sens. J.D. Vance (R-OH) and Vivek Ramaswamy, had attended the trial to support Trump. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) was expected to attend later in the week.
