One of the key pieces of Donald Trump's case could save him, but it would also force him to admit he isn't a savvy businessman monitoring the details of his company.
Trump will face closing arguments in the Manhattan trial where he stands accused of 34 felonies around the falsification of business records to conceal a hush-money scheme for an alleged affair.
Speaking to MSNBC on Friday, New York Times reporter Susanne Craig said that some of the checks came from Trump's trust while the rest came from Trump personally.
What the defense attempted to do, however, is imply that not all checks were signed by Trump himself. His sons Eric and Don Jr. are also signers on the trust account.
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"I think that, in introducing that, raising the possibility, you know, that maybe he didn't know about all of them," said Craig. "It seems hard to believe that if he knew about some, you know — he didn't know about all of them. They actually put that out there. But I think that the defense, at least, is going in that direction."
It made her think about a moment in the trial when Michael Cohen admitted that he stole money from Trump, calling it his "self-help" charge.
"There was evidence he took some money he shouldn't have. It was written about it in his book," Craig recalled. "I think another way that you could think about that from the ...defense — the prosecution has made quite a case over Donald Trump; he counted every penny that went out of the place. He was always looking for a deal. He was very much aware of all of the money going out. He signed every check."
However, in the case of Cohen's payment, the fixer was able to pull the wool over Trump's eyes.
"In that instance it's another — it's a case where Michael Cohen apparently got one over on Donald Trump. I think they could use that also," said Craig. "Just to say, Donald Trump didn't necessarily have his eye on every penny that was leaving the place. You know, and kind of cast more doubt on, you know, did Donald Trump know or not? That's really what it's going to come down to."
Admitting that Trump didn't have an eye on the business, however, would mean he wasn't the prudent businessman he claimed to be.
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Lawyers may have to admit Trump isn't that great of a businessman to score innocence youtu.be
