There's no indication yet of a verdict being reached in the jury deliberations for former President Donald Trump's criminal hush money case in Manhattan — but the questions the jury asked Judge Juan Merchan before being dismissed for the day were an ominous sign for the former president, correspondent Lachlan Cartwright told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace.
Specifically the jury asked Merchan to re-review the testimony of Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen — whom Trump's legal team spent the entire trial trying to undermine and discredit — and former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, who facilitated "catch and kill" schemes that were part of the same pattern that saw the alleged hush payments submitted to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
"We'll give you the last word," said Wallace. "What is your sort of Spidey Sense picking up that these are the things that the jury is first interested in hearing more about?"
Want more breaking political news? Click for the latest headlines at Raw Story.
ALSO READ: Revealed: Lawmaker who gave J6ers a Capitol tour targets ex-Capitol Police intel head
"My initial Spidey Sense is, it is not a good indicator for Donald Trump," said Cartwright.
The key takeaway, he said, is that "they're not looking for further information about the paper, that is pretty locked down. But they are going back to that meeting in August of 2015 which is establishing the conspiracy and looking at David Pecker's testimony in particular, and compared to Michael Cohen, Pecker on the stand was quite credible, and had all of the industrial knowledge of what had gone on."
"So, you know, I think that it is really interesting that this would look at David Pecker over Michael Cohen," Cartwright added. "But I think the Pecker testimony is the tick-tock of how the conspiracy is formed and how it is carried out in the leadup to the election, and following the election, when he then goes and meets again with Donald Trump."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Lachlan Cartwright says jury questions bode poorly for Trump www.youtube.com
Recommended Links:
- Libertarian leader stuns MSNBC reporter by describing how much she hates Trump
- Trump demands jury be told not to link Michael Cohen's guilty plea to him
- 'Trying to show judge who's boss': Ex-prosecutor warns Trump Juan Merchan is about to snap
- Judge Merchan was 'apoplectic' during warning to Trump about jury comments: insider