The first witness scheduled to provide testimony in Donald Trump's historic criminal case in Manhattan will bring "dynamite evidence" that jumps to the heart of the case and shows Trump intended to conceal his affairs in order to win the presidency, a law professor said.
Raw Story reported on Sunday that the New York Times had sources suggesting the first witness to be called in the falsification of business records case is National Enquirer publisher David Pecker. Pecker, a key figure in the hush-money scandal involving former Trump, is expected to provide crucial testimony about his role in suppressing stories detrimental to Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
NYU law professor Ryan Goodman analyzed the prosecution's filings to see exactly what evidence Pecker would be providing during the first official day of trial.
Want more breaking political news? Click for the latest headlines at Raw Story.
ALSO READ: Revealed: What government officials privately shared about Trump not disclosing finances
"Pecker could be key witness - in ways more devastating than Michael Cohen," according to Goodman's weekend analysis. "This also indicates DA is foregrounding unlawful election influence for jurors."
Goodman goes on to say that "Pecker's testimony should be strong proof of core allegation that the hush money scheme was geared toward influencing the outcome of the presidential election."
"Pecker was principal at August 2015 Trump Tower meeting with Trump and Michael Cohen setting up catch-and-kill election operation," he added on Sunday before sharing a piece of the indictment. "Here's the passage from the NY Indictment indicating the evidence the DA - including through Pecker's own testimony - can present re the August 2015 Trump Tower meeting, which set the whole scheme in motion."
"At the meeting, the AMI CEO agreed to help with the Defendant's campaign," says the highlighted part of the indictment.
"Pecker will also likely testify about his involvement in flurry of phone calls, day after the Access Hollywood tape broke, to buy-and-bury Stormy Daniels' story," Goodman added. "Pecker also likely to testify about his conversations directly with Trump and Cohen in December 2016 - on the arrangement for Trump to reimburse Cohen for the hush money payment to Daniels."
Further, according to the law professor, "David Pecker's likely dynamite evidence of nexus between hush money scheme and effort to influence election includes" Pecker's own testimony that "In the summer of 2017, the Defendant invited the AMI CEO to the White House for a dinner to thank him for his help during the campaign."
