Trump GJ case on hold till next week..

One issue is a sworn letter sent to the FEC stating that Cohen (not Trump) set up the Stormy Daniels NDA and that he was never reimbursed.

In a private transaction in 2016, before the U.S. presidential election, Mr. Cohen used his own personal funds to facilitate a payment of $130,000 to Ms. Stephanie Clifford [Stormy Daniels]. Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed Mr. Cohen for the payment directly or indirectly.

Contrary to the allegations in the complaint, which are entirely speculative, neither Mr. Cohen nor Essential Consultants LLC made any in-kind contributions to Donald J. Trump for President, Inc., or any other presidential campaign committee. Mr. Cohen has not been a government employee during any of the relevant time period. The payment in question does not constitute a campaign contribution or expenditure and, therefore, the FEC lacks jurisdiction over this matter. The complainants have not and cannot present any evidence to the contrary. Accordingly, the complaint should be dismissed.

So basically where does that put things? If previous statement to law enforcement can be taken at any face value, then Cohen was claiming that the NDA was his own private doing. The Trump legal team could simply stand by the documentation that states their payment with Cohen was for legal fees (not an NDA). Costello (another Cohen attorney) has now provided sworn testimony that Cohen had also expressed to him that Trump was unaware of the $130,000 NDA. He also can testify that Cohen is a serial liar with multiple examples of said lying.

That would leave Bragg with literally no proof of the crime he is alleging other than new testimony by a convicted felon (and serial liar) that what he told his lawyer and what he sent to the FEC was basically a lie. Bragg would have to convince a jury that Cohen both previously lied and is now telling the truth when he says there was a shady agreement to hide the NDA payment within other legal fees. All without any paper trail that anyone is aware of.

Now oddly, I am of the opinion that Cohen probably did lie to the FEC, that the payment to Cohen for $420K from Trump included the Stormy NDA, that it is more likely than not that Trump knew about the NDA . But there is literally at this point no actual evidence or proof of any of it other than the testimony of Michael Cohen, which is now disputed openly by his own attorney. Trump would not have to testify and unless Bragg convinces someone from the Trump organization to "turn" on Trump, he is out of collaborating witnesses for his story.

If I was on a jury, I certainly would not convict without actual physical paper trail evidence that proves an actual crime? Could anyone really seriously determined based on Cohen testimony alone that Trump himself is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of a crime here? Especially when the idea of how a NDA was paid is a murky crime at best.