Comey sees 'overwhelming chance of conviction' in Trump hush money case
Former FBI Director James Comey suggested Wednesday that there is an “overwhelming chance” former President Trump will be convicted in his hush money trial that wound down in New York City this week.
“There’s an overwhelming chance of a conviction, a significant but much smaller chance of a hung jury and zero chance of an acquittal,” Comey said in a NewsNation interview with Dan Abrams.
Trump stands accused of falsifying business documents in an effort to cover up payments made in the weeks before the 2016 election to silence a porn actor over an alleged previous affair from a decade prior. The prosecution rested its case Monday, and the former president's attorneys put up only a brief defense.
The jury will begin deliberations next week after closing statements.
Prosecutors argued, relying on the testimony of former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen, that the former president knowingly falsified paperwork to hide the hush money payments and prevent the scandal from hurting his election chances.
Comey also walked back his previous recommendation for President Biden to pardon Trump. He said Wednesday that the unprecedented prosecution against the former president is justified, given the other criminal allegations Trump faces regarding his perceived role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and claims he purposefully hid classified documents after leaving the White House.
The former FBI director, whom Trump fired from the job in 2017, also said he intends to vote for Biden in November.
“This election is a time for people to realize our policy disagreements ... are below something that we ought to all have in common — a commitment to the rule of law,” he said. “I’m going to vote for Joe Biden, because I know what’s at stake.”
He also criticized the former president in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC, saying Trump is "coming for" the Department of Justice.
"He knows their power, and I think he has regrets that he didn’t work hard enough to corrupt them last time. So, he’s coming for them, and that’s a danger for all Americans," Comey said.
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