Paper trail to jail? Trump loses mistrial bid and braces as D.A. about to 'rest case'

This was a difficult week for the defendant. There was dramatic and gripping testimony from the woman at the center of the plot to obtain silence. Of all the witnesses we have seen, she has become the most famous through her encounter with Trump and there were also key testimonies and statements. Days of testimony from witnesses who were in Trump's orbit who were able to speak to what she said and corroborate some of the financial aspects for the jury. We have more on that tonight as well, but prosecutors have been laying out the pieces of this scheme to influence the 2016 election.

And we tell you that while we tell you why it was such a difficult week for Trump, we also know, based on public comments Here, we are working with the public evidence, we know that we are near the end of this, we now have two witnesses. According to the district attorney's team, star witness Michael Cohen, Trump's former lawyer and fixer, will start another witness on Monday and then they say they will be ready to

rest

as soon as next week. Cohen, of course, is central to his and the prosecutor's

case

. has testified under oath before that Trump was involved in everything, oh he knew everything, everything had to go through Mr.

Trump and it had to be approved by Mr. Trump, that's what Cohen sounded like last time, which is a testimony equally legally binding and then it is under oath. a big punishment if you're a cop who messes up or outright lies and commits perjury, that was for Congress, so we expect to hear a similar line from Cohen when he takes the stand on Monday. Prosecutors say they will drop their

case

, as I mentioned by The End of the Week now that could change, but it is a safe line, it means that if something unexpected happens or there is no other known problem with the judge or something beyond of their control, they hope to have this done by Thursday there.

Of course, there are steps after the defense can respond and the jury can deliberate on closing arguments, that kind of thing, but whether or not they can present the case, they say that by Thursday they believe they will have legally presented all the testing every element of the two crimes they say Donald Trump committed this week started with a bang, you may remember that Trump's team clashed with the judge because he was caught blatantly violating the binding gag order and that meant that even when this progresses even as this day only has a few days left, the judge had to tell the accused through the lawyer that he could face a

jail

sentence if this continues.

Future violations may be punished by imprisonment. Now prosecutors are doing what they said they would do. Follow the money. receipts and that's important as we've mentioned and we're going to address this with our experts tonight as part of this special where witnesses are important because they bring everything to life, but they don't do much without receipts and the prosecutor does. They have some receipts, the checks, they see the defendant's signature, the other documents that show how this was not just a random thing, but it was a complete plot executed through the Trump organization and through Donald Trump's personal bank account, They have the checks that Trump wrote.

According to Cohen, the jury saw them for the first time this week. The prosecutor then called actress Stormy Daniels to the stand where she testified and told the jury why she understood Trump wanted to silence her at that moment. Stormy Daniels became a household name for shaking up the halls of power. Daniels of course is at the center of this whole case, everyone wants to hear what Stormy Daniels will say, of course Stormy Daniels gets the most attention, fascinating bombshell, sometimes disgusting testimony, you wanted money, that line was repeated several times and bordered on Susan's necklace, I think shaming a sex worker I think it's their motivation to really shame this woman and it's not working.

She wasn't going to let them know that her story was mischaracterized. Daniels testified for two days. His testimony was quite detailed, graphic and like an observation there that could sound like a characterization or even an opinion, but when I say it was detailed in a graphic, that was something that the judge sometimes had to patrol, so at the level legal some of the details went beyond what the judge considered necessary for the evidence. to support the DA's case, remember this is not like an interview where you can jump around on different topics, the questions and topics are regulated by the judge now, within what she said, she testified that Trump did not seem worried when they had their initial meeting. about making it public, which strengthens the DA's case that the only problem was the motivation of the campaign, part of the campaign crime they say and not just something generalized, you know, hush money.

Daniels faced an aggressive interrogation by Trump's lawyer who, as we reported throughout the week, tried to also use stigma or discredit her for her work, accused Daniels, for example, of extorting Trump. Daniels responded falsely, that was some kind of accusation. in the form of a question she also raised the idea that maybe Daniels just made the whole thing up which Not only did she deny it but it would be a tough pill for a jury to have SW follow and they have seen many other collaborations i.e. she had any interaction with Trump that worried him so much he was willing to pay. for her silence according to the receipts, Daniels also said that sharing her story had negatively impacted her and there is a lot of corroboration of that and when Daniels concluded her testimony she paved the way for other Witnesses and some of them are not as exciting, but they go.

Back to what I said, they have to prove not only that things happened, not only that there was a cover-up, but that it was an intentional financial cover-up that Trump basically knew about at the time, which is why there was an accountant at his company who said that Trump spoke. According to his former and now convicted CFO Weisselberg, that testimony was also supported by another staff aide who said Thursday that they remembered a couple of times when there was a question about a check and Trump would simply pick up the phone and call that now convicted financial director.

Alan Weiselberg became emotional and cried on the stand, the second person to show that kind of emotion, and said he met with the defense earlier in the week to prepare now that he was a witness for the prosecution, but that gives an indication of his perspective. and that's Okay, by the way, witnesses can have a mixed perspective, no matter who they are called, since their main obligation is supposed to tell the truth and the jury evaluates that now on Friday the judge even raised the idea of having the aforementioned convicted Trump money man. Weiselberg testifying now, that would be a big problem, remember when I mentioned that some unexpected things could add time if you add a witness and have to arrange for him to be released from Riker's

jail

, which could take a little more time.

He's at Rikers in New York. after pleading guilty to perjury for testimony he gave in a different Trump case, not this one but a related fraud case, because fraud allegations have dogged Trump in different courts and that's the second time Weisselberg has gone to jail for things he did. that they were basically related and possibly or supposedly at the behest of his boss Donald Trump political reports that at times Trump's lawyers have seemed visibly concerned about the recent suggestion in court that Weiselberg come in, they seem to think that he is loyal but better not I've heard from now that we're also seeing how day to day this process can yield different information, which is why the employee I mentioned when she testified on Friday said that Trump would sign checks sometimes without even reviewing them and that creates a clash between and between Yeah.

Both the witnesses in the prosecutor's arguments and those of the defense because again the jury's job here is not to support one side and not just take the first thing they hear as gospel; In fact, they will receive instructions before entering into deliberation that they must accept it. everything holistically, not just the most recent argument, whether it was which lawyer had to finish or which witness was last and therefore together they have to unravel all of these claims. Loop Trump's claim is a fair defense, that's when he's allowed a lodge. but they have to look at all the evidence, the signatures, the books, bragging about how involved he is to decide whether that or not, plus a tape of him talking about these payments, whether everything is correct or not.

You've heard me say this. Before, if we used a general standard like two sources in journalism, they would have Trump as the accused with no rights, but it's a higher and deliberate standard, so it's not just two sources or what you think it is more likely or reasonably what happened. It's supposed to be a very high standard on purpose for all defendants. Beyond a reasonable doubt, he did it, he covered it up and he did it with the intent to commit a campaign crime, a higher bar and that's why we'll be watching this next week. In addition to the prosecutor bringing in Cohen and then

rest

ing his case, the trial is moving quickly.

Trump's efforts to delay this, unlike any other case he has faced in this courtroom, have been failing.