Robert Hirschhorn, a jury consultant, informed CNN that the lack of evidence presented by the prosecution in the trial of former President Donald Trump could result in a “not guilty” verdict, despite the predominantly Democratic composition of the jury due to the Manhattan location.
Jeffrey McConney, a former Trump Organization controller, testified on Monday that Trump never instructed him to falsify documents, even when questioned by the defense. Hirschhorn emphasized that without more convincing evidence from the prosecution, even a Democratic jury is inclined to acquit Trump.
“Cases are won and lost on cross-examination, not direct examination,” Hirschhorn told host Kaitlan Collins. “And the fact that this witness said that he never had direction from Trump to falsify any records, that’s a huge problem for the prosecution’s case.”
Witness accounts have not yet confirmed key aspects of the prosecutors’ assertions regarding their attempts to demonstrate that Trump forged business records concerning his ex-lawyer Michael Cohen’s $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to keep quiet about allegations of a “sexual encounter.” Prosecutors claim that the payment before the 2016 election was a component of a “conspiracy” to sway the election results.
“This is the only person the prosecution could have to talk about the accounting side, at least so far,” Hirschhorn said about McConney. “He’s the highest one up so far from the Trump org side. He has not provided, Kaitlan, that crucial link between the crime and the defendant’s either knowledge about it or ordering that the documents be falsified. It’s a big problem, and I‘m telling you, if they don’t fix this problem, what you’re looking at is this kind of verdict, right here of a not guilty, even from a predominantly Democratic jury. They have to follow the evidence in the case. And if the state doesn’t link all this up, you‘re coming in with a not guilty.”
