Former US president Donald Trump’s hush money trial is about to end Thursday with both sides preparing their closing remarks; however, there might be a difficulty in convicting the Republican presumptive nominee.
The business mogul was indicted for the first time in the hush money case in March 2023.
Prosecutors alleged that Trump falsified business records to pay an amount of $130,000 to an adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep silent over her sexual encounter with the 77-year-old in 2006.
The amount was paid by the then-Trump’s fixer and lawyer Michael Cohen, who testified weeks ago in a New York City court.
According to a Newsweek report Monday, Lawyer Colleen Kerwick said that he would hazard a guess that at least “one juror will refuse to convict Trump, the jury will hang, and there will be a mistrial”.
Prosecutors are aimed at proving that Donald Trump paid or discussed paying two women — Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal — before 2016 elections, to keep them silent.
The Investigative team against Trump also claims that the amount to Daniels was not a legal campaign contribution because the payment was aimed at keeping Daniels silent and eventually influencing the situation in the presidential elections of 2016.
Kerwick told the outlet that Cohen admitted to the jury that he had stolen from Trump and covered it up with fraudulent paperwork, adding that some of the jury may accept that Cohen acted alone in creating false records to hide hush money payments to Daniels.
Kerwick said that it is not a crime to pay someone for their silence, which is a significant factor for the jury.
