Georgetown Law School professor Jonathan Turley has never had much regard for the “hush money” case filed against former President Donald Trump, and he was even less impressed by it after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecutors gave the jury their opening arguments.
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Turley said the trial in Manhattan over Trump allegedly falsifying business records to hide ‘hush money’ payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels has left him “in utter disbelief,” he told Fox News.
“What is clear, is in this case, Trump is right. I mean, this is an embarrassment. I mean, the fact that we are actually talking about this case being presented in a New York courtroom, leaves me in utter disbelief. I mean, the arguments today did, in fact, capture all the problems here,” Turley said Monday afternoon.
“You had this misdemeanor under state law that had run out; this is going back to relate it to the 2016 election. And they zapped it back into life by alleging that there was a campaign finance violation under the federal laws that doesn’t exist,” he said.
Turley was responding to the ongoing trial on Monday, which began earnestly after last week’s jury selection. He also referenced a recent poll indicating that 31% of Americans perceive Trump’s behavior at the heart of the case as unethical but not illegal. Additionally, 14% stated there was “nothing wrong” with Trump’s actions, while 35% deemed his actions “illegal.”
“This case should not have been brought , and if it were brought, there was no reason to have this right before the election in my view. But this is becoming the split screen election,” Turley said. “Earlier it was pretty damaging to see the split screen between Trump in different courtrooms. This is even more effective when the other side of the screen shows Biden campaigning in key states like Pennsylvania, while he’s held in this courtroom.”
“It really brings home something that bothers a lot of Americans, including people don’t particularly like Trump, that this is the weaponization of the criminal legal system. It’s something we should all be able to condemn.”
The trial wrapped at 12:30 p.m. after a juror experienced a dental emergency and required a visit to a dentist.
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Disclaimer: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.