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via seattletimes.com
In the official record, the case is known as the People of the State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, and, for now, the people have the stronger hand: They have insider witnesses, a favorable jury pool and a lurid set of facts about a presidential candidate, a payoff and a porn actor.
On Monday, the prosecutors will formally introduce the case to 12 all-important jurors, embarking on the first prosecution of a U.S. president. The trial, which could brand Trump a felon as he mounts another White House run, will reverberate throughout the nation and test the durability of the justice system that Trump is attacking in a way that no other defendant would be allowed to do.
Although the district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has assembled a mountain of evidence, a conviction is hardly assured. Over the next six weeks, Trump’s lawyers will seize on three apparent weak points: a key witness’s credibility, a president’s culpability and the case’s legal complexity.
Prosecutors will seek to maneuver around those vulnerabilities, presenting information that mixes politics and sex as they confront a shrewd defendant with a decadeslong track record of skirting legal consequences. They will also seek to bolster the credibility of that key witness, Michael Cohen, a former fixer to Trump who previously pleaded guilty to federal crimes for paying the porn actor, Stormy Daniels.