'Scary part for the defense': Trump lawyer says judge could 'affect verdict' with one move

Donald Trump's legal team should be terrified of a looming decision hanging over their client's criminal hush money trial, according to the former president's onetime lawyer.

Jim Trusty, the attorney who bailed on defending Trump in his federal classified documents case, appeared on CNN Friday afternoon to discuss a key decision facing Justice Juan Merchan as he oversees the Manhattan criminal court trial in New York City.

"This judge can dramatically affect the verdict," Trusty said. "That's a real scary part for the defense."

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Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg contends was done to conceal hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Bragg accuses Trump of orchestrating "catch-and-kill" schemes to bury salacious stories that might have proved fatal to his first presidential campaign, which is why some legal experts categorize this trial among the former president's election interference cases.

For his part, Trusty believes the question of election interference will play a key role in the instructions Merchan gives the jury after closing arguments have concluded.

Trusty explained Merchan has two options. He might instruct the jury that the government has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump "fully intended election interference."

Or, according to Trusty, Merchan might take a softer approach that allows the jury to consider Trump had multiple reasons for orchestrating the scheme, including that he wanted to bury scandals to protect his family.

"The judge could say, 'if you find that some portion of the motivation was to affect the election, then you have this mixed motivation model,'" Trusty said, "where it's partly personal ... also partly police political aspirations."

The latter approach would make it easier for the jury to come back with a guilty verdict, especially with two legal experts on the panel, Trusty concluded.

"If you have combinations allowing the support of conviction by the jury instruction," he said, "then two lawyers on the jury might run with that and 12 people could be unanimous."

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