MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace went through one 42 second answer from Trump’s Fox and Friends interview and showed how the president blew up his legal defenses in both the Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels cases.
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Nicolle Wallace said, “Each word he uttered left a mark. Let’s go through it line by line starting with this. ”
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She showed how Trump blew up his Cohen defense, “It took less than three hours for prosecutors in the Michael Cohen case to use those exact words against trump. Prior to his appearance on fox and friends, the president’s lawyers were arguing that some of the items seized in the Cohen raid should be protected under attorney/client privilege. You’ll remember the president’s dramatic tweet after the day of the raid, he tweeted, coat, attorney/client privilege is it would appear that Trump helped kill it. Government lawyers argued today in a court filing that since trump says Cohen is barely his attorney, evidence seized in the Cohen raid should barely be protected by attorney/client privilege, which could mean that prosecutors gain access to more evidence connecting him to more possible crimes.”
Trump also destroyed his Stormy Daniels defense, “The president appearing to acknowledge that Michael Cohen represented him in negotiations with Stormy Daniels. This is the most trump has ever said about the hush money payment and he seems to know more than he ever previously disclosed according to the fact, according to him, no campaign funds were involved. His comments also directly contradict his claims earlier this month aboard air force one when he said he didn’t know about the payment at all. Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti respond on Twitter, quote, Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen previously represented to the American people that Mr. Cohen acted on his own and that Mr. Trump knew nothing about the agreement with my client, the $130,000 payment. As I predicted that has now been shown to be completely false.”
Trump didn’t just stop at harming his legal defense. He set it on fire and celebrated while it burned.
The 30 minute Fox and Friends ramble is the downside of having no one in the White House to tell Trump no. Going on Fox and Friends and riffing about his legal strategy was the worst thing that he could have done. Trump is probably going to lose the Stormy Daniels case, and he could end up in criminal jeopardy because one of the few defenses that he could have invoked has now been taken away.
Trump is screwed, and if his lawyers were smart, they would quit today.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
