Lawyer: Donald Trump’s attack strategy against Michael Cohen could backfire

An attack strategy against Michael Cohen could backfire for Donald Trump’s defense attorney in his hush money trial, a senior lawyer said.

John J. Perlstein, a Los Angeles-based litigator, recounted Newsweek that the Trump team’s attacks during Stormy Daniels’ testimony earlier this week didn’t work and could potentially fail against Cohen as well.

Cohen, who was once Trump’s lawyer and close associate, is scheduled to testify against him on Monday. The two have become irreconcilable enemies and have publicly criticized each other since the trial began at the end of April.

Cohen was disbarred and served a prison sentence for tax and bank fraud, political campaign violations and other crimes.

Perlstein said it’s not about whether Cohen is liked by the jury, but whether or not they believe him.

“I don’t know if it really matters that Cohen is liked when it comes to this witness. I think the question will come down to whether to believe him or not,” he said.

“Defenders’ attempt to portray him as despicable could certainly backfire if he is credible on the relevant facts. I tend to believe that he will be credible when it comes to the information regarding the allegations against Trump, who is also unpopular. “In my humble opinion.”

He said: “The defensive strategy with Stormy Daniels backfired and that could well be the case here too.”

Newsweek Trump’s lawyer has reached out for comment outside of normal working hours.

New York lawyer Janos Marton also announced this Newsweek that the Trump team’s cross-examination of Cohen is likely to be “chaotic.”

He said prosecutors did not call Cohen on Friday because they did not want the cross-examination confrontation to be interrupted by the weekend break.

“By and large, the frantic end to testimony this week was probably intended to avoid the possibility of witnessing a chaotic cross-examination of Michael Cohen just before the break for the weekend,” he said.

“(Cohen) remains their key witness, which has always been a source of tension in this case due to his past and unpredictable behavior.”

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is the first former president in US history to stand trial in a criminal case. He pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has repeatedly emphasized that this case and other criminal and civil challenges involving him are politically motivated.

The prosecution is trying to prove that Trump paid or discussed paying two women – adult film star Stormy Daniels and the former – before the 2016 presidential election playboy Model Karen McDougal – not to reveal his alleged affairs with them. He denies having affairs with both women.