CNN's Jake Tapper went head-to-head with Donald Trump lawyer Will Scharf on the first day of the embattled ex-prez's hush money trial proceedings.
On Sunday, April 14, Scharf told Fox News that his client had "not done anything wrong." The following day, Tapper didn't hold back when challenging the attorney on whether the defense would argue that Trump "did not pay hush money," or "participate in the falsification of business records" prior to the 2016 election.
"I think it’s really important to note again that this is not a hush money trial," Scharf replied. "This is a business records trial. This relates to business records, entries, largely from 2017."
He noted that with respect to the aforementioned records, Trump committed no crimes and the truth is "100% on his side."
"Well, tell me more, because you’re right. The hush money is not the the alleged violation of law. It’s the falsification of business records," Tapper countered. "You know, there is a paper trail here. I could show you the checks signed by Donald Trump reimbursing Michael Cohen."
"Donald Trump himself acknowledged in 2018 that that he did authorize payments to Stormy Daniels," he added. "So what exactly is the argument here in terms of what you’re saying when you say he didn’t do anything wrong?"
Scharf told Tapper he was making a "dangerous" assumption by assuming the records had been falsified, noting the payments were registered as a "legal retainer" and the jury will need to make the decision on whether that was a "fair characterization of the payments."
"We believe again that with respect to those business records, entries, with respect to these payments, President Trump did absolutely nothing wrong," the lawyer concluded.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, a grand jury voted to indict Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business documents in March 2023 in connection with a $130,000 payment made to the adult film star.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
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The hush money was allegedly paid so that Daniels would not speak publicly about a sexual encounter that allegedly took place between Trump and Daniels after they met at a golf tournament in Lake Tahoe back in 2006.
The 77-year-old was married to current wife Melania at the time.