Michael Cohen's Impact on Jury Picked Apart by Analysts

Michael Cohen's lengthy cross-examination is having a major effect on Donald Trump's hush-money trial, legal analysts have said.

David Ring, a partner in the Taylor & Ring law firm in Los Angeles, told Newsweek that the jury's attitude to Trump will largely determine how they view Cohen's many personal failings.

Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for 2024, is the first former president in U.S. history to stand trial in a criminal case. He has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records. He has continually said that this case and other criminal and civil challenges involving him are politically motivated.

The prosecution seeks to prove that, before the 2016 presidential election, Trump paid or discussed paying two women—adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal—not to disclose his alleged affairs with them. He denies affairs with both women. Newsweek sought email comment from Trump's attorney on Friday.