GOP Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall sat in the Manhattan courtroom Monday for the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump and predicted a “really bad day” for the prosecution’s star witness on Tuesday.
Marshall, a 30-year veteran prosecutor, was in court supporting Trump, telling Fox News Digital the trial is what the former president “rightly believes is a sham of a prosecution.”
Michael Cohen, Trump’s ex-lawyer and self-proclaimed “fixer,” testified for hours Monday and took the stand again for cross-examination on Tuesday.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Marshall said he predicted a “really bad day” for Cohen, considered the prosecution team’s star witness, facing questioning from Trump’s defense team.
NY V. TRUMP TRIAL RESUMES WITH ‘STAR WITNESS’ MICHAEL COHEN EXPECTED TO TAKE THE STAND
Michael Cohen is questioned by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger during former President Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan on May 13, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. (Reuters/Jane Rosenberg )
“Michael Cohen is going to have a really bad day,” Marshall said. “He’s got a lot of explaining to do, and the only thing the jury is going to be able to conclude is that while Michael Cohen made a career on monetizing his relationship with Donald Trump, his testimony in this case was designed to monetize his ability to get Donald Trump a conviction, and that is not going to play very well”
Marshall said “the best resolution” to this case, in his view, is for the court to enter a judgment of acquittal.
“And by the time the defense team has this testimony, he’s going to be completely discredited,” Marshall said, adding that he believes the defense will move for an acquittal.
“What seemingly gets lost in the discussion is what this case is about, and that is, false business entries into the records on Trump that inherently, according to the prosecution, lead to some other criminal offense, some conspiracy to commit some other crime. And I haven’t seen it,” Marshall said.
“And the discussion about the NDA negotiations with Stormy Daniels’ lawyers, the references to what took place, had no bearing on what the prosecution ultimately has to prove – which is that Donald Trump was aware of false entries, did so with a fraudulent intent and that that was designed to be able to commit another offense – which is yet has not been disclosed,” Marshall added.
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Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
“And sitting through what I think is almost all of the direct examination of Michael Cohen… There still is no link and there still is no nexus to the man who was charged with this offense,” he said.
Cohen is said to be the star witness for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and his team as they try to prove the former president falsified business records related to a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
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Bragg charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges and maintains his innocence.
Trump, for years, has denied the encounter with Daniels ever happened.
Trump later made several payments of $35,000 to Cohen, who was serving as his personal attorney at the time. The payments totaled $420,000.
The payments from Trump to Cohen are the basis for Bragg’s indictment of Trump. Bragg is trying to prove that the payments were reimbursements to Cohen for the hush money payment to Daniels.
But Trump defense attorneys maintain that the $35,000 payments were “not a payback,” but were, instead, legal payments.
Former President Trump awaits the start of proceedings at Manhattan criminal court, April 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, Pool)
Marshall said Bragg’s case against Trump is an “affront” to what state prosecutors are meant to do.
“I’ve worked in the criminal justice system as a voice for victims in law enforcement. I care desperately about what that system represents and what it is that prosecutors are supposed to do, and this case is an affront to that,” Marshall told Fox News Digital.
Bragg’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Brianna Herlihy is a politics writer for Fox News Digital.
