Former Trump White House attorney Ty Cobb said Tuesday that he believes former President Trump is likely to be found guilty in his criminal hush money trial this week.
“I expect a ‘GUILTY’ verdict, but only because the jury instructions as urged by the [district attorney] and adopted by the judge, over strenuous and well-founded defense objections, virtually require conviction,” Cobb told Semafor.
“I reach this legal conclusion because of my long expertise as a federal prosecutor and white-collar defense lawyer,” he continued, “my reference for the rule of law, and despite my view that Trump remains the greatest threat to Democracy in our nation’s history.”
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business documents in the case, which marks the first criminal trial of a sitting or former president. Prosecutors claim the former president illegally covered up hush money payments made to porn actor Stormy Daniels in the weeks before the 2016 election to buy her silence over an alleged past affair, which he denies.
Closing arguments began in the trial Tuesday, with jury deliberations set to follow. Cobb said he expects no more than four days of deliberation in the case. That timeline could deliver a verdict this week.
Much of the deliberation is expected to center on the testimony of Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who testified that the former president instructed him to make the hush money payments.
Questions have surrounded Cohen’s testimony given his prior conviction for lying under oath, and a harsh cross-examination by Trump’s legal team earlier this month.
If he is convicted, the former president could face as much as four years in prison, as well as be named a felon.