'Open and shut': Trump prosecutor says upcoming hush-money trial will be 'a slam dunk'
A man who successfully prosecuted Donald Trump says people are "sleeping" on the former president's upcoming hush-money trial.
Trump is scheduled to be on trial in the case, in which he has been accused of falsifying business records to pay off an adult film star to keep quiet about a purported affair in order to influence the 2016 election, later in March. Many legal analysts have classed that case as the least consequential of the criminal cases the ex-president is facing.
But Tristan Snell, who led the prosecution in the Trump University case, says this case will be bigger than most onlookers believe.
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"It's going to be a consequential trial," Snell said of the Manhattan prosecution. "I do believe there is a stigma attached if he is then voted by a jury to be a convicted felon, and let's be clear, they are definitely falsification of business records. It is a slam dunk factually."
He continued:
"The only real issue here is whether or not it was done in service of another crime," Snell said, adding that there are "multiple angles the D.A.'s office can pursue to get there."
On the issue of falsification, he said, there will be a "clear" response from the witnesses.
"We will hear a clear compelling case that yes, they took these payments to [Stormy] Daniels, they ran it through Michael Cohen and papered it later to make it look like it was legal fees to Michael Cohen," he said. "You will hear it from other people at the organization, and you will hear it from... the person that received the payments. You will hear it from Daniels' attorney at the time. It will be open and shut. There is only a legal issue that we need to hear about. And the entire thing will be tawdry for Trump. It will not paint him in a good light. It will probably make it worse he if takes the stand."