Manhattan Criminal Court — Former President Donald Trump's lawyers made a demand Thursday condemned as "totally improper" by one legal expert, slammed by prosecutors, and quickly rejected by the judge.
Emil Bove requested Judge Juan Merchan allow specific testimony next week from an expert on federal campaign finance laws to which prosecutor Matthew Colangelo immediately objected.
"I think 95 percent of the testimony describes flies directly in the face of your very clear instructions," snapped Colangelo. "Your honor ruled on it and that should be the end of it."
Bove's request ties to law professor and former Federal Election Commission appointee Brad Smith and his ability to field questions on legal opinions, a request ridiculed by former Ethics Czar Norm Eisen.
"But what Bove is asking for is TOTALLY IMPROPER," Eisen wrote on X. "These are legal issues for judge--not for an expert."
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Ultimately, Merchan agreed.
"That does sound an awful lot like what would be called opinions on the law," Merchan told Bove. "We are definitely not going to go there."
This conversation concluded a tumultuous court battle between Trump's lead attorney Todd Blanche and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's star witness Michael Cohen.
Bragg contends that Trump, with help from Cohen, falsified business records to send secret cash to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Trump pleaded not guilty, denies an affair with Daniels, and contends he is the victim of a political witch hunt, without evidence.
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