'Wow! Wow! Wow!' Morning Joe panel stunned by 'disorienting' speed of Trump trial

Panelists on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" marveled at the "disorienting" speed of the prosecution's case in Donald Trump's hush money trial, and legal experts agreed that put the defense team at a disadvantage.

Adult film star Stormy Daniels testified for more than seven hours about the 2006 sexual encounter at the center of the case, and prosecutors have brought a series of former Trump aides and employees to tell jurors about his micromanagement and penchant for pinching pennies, and his former attorney Michael Cohen will soon take the stand to tie together all that evidence into a narrative.

"In terms of timing, I actually think we'll see Michael Cohen sooner than later," said legal analyst Danny Cevallos. "Just thinking about this as a defense attorney, what I think the prosecution has done well is move quickly. When you're a defense counsel, that's disorienting, especially when, in this case, you don't have a solid witness list and you don't know who's next, it can throw you off. If the prosecution moves quickly enough, you can be left saying, 'I didn't ask all the questions I wanted to ask, I wasn't ready for the witness,' and it can create chaos at the defense table. I think that's something they have done strategically. I don't know if it's intentional, but it feels that way, by being efficient, you keep the defense on their heels, and I think that may be what's going on here."

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Co-host Mika Brzezinski agreed, saying she feels like the case is moving at a blistering pace.

"I'll just say, as a watcher, it was disorienting," Brzezinski said. "It was like, wow, wow, they just keep bringing them in.."

Prosecutors decided not to call former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who also was paid hush money ahead of the 2016 election to cover up an extramarital affair with Trump, but legal analyst Lisa Rubin said her testimony wasn't necessary to win a conviction.

"Talk about the speed of the trial," Rubin said. "The reason Karen McDougal isn't coming in is because she is unnecessary. She's part of the conspiracy, but when we're talking about the falsification of business records, the Karen McDougal payment has nothing to do with that. Falsification of business records is about the repayment to Michael Cohen of the money for the Stormy Daniels settlement and then some. Karen McDougal was paid by American Media. There's nothing that she has to do with the back half of the case that forms the crime."

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05 10 2024 06 01 47 youtu.be