Jurors additionally noticed a tweet from Aug 22, 2018 – after Cohen pleaded responsible to violating marketing campaign finance legislation with the Daniels fee – through which Trump wrote, “If anybody is searching for an excellent lawyer, I’d strongly counsel that you do not retain the companies of Michael Cohen!”
“This official-acts proof ought to by no means have been put earlier than the jury,” Trump’s legal professionals wrote.
Final yr, Trump made an identical argument as a part of an unsuccessful push to maneuver the hush cash case to federal courtroom. In denying Trump’s request in July 2023, US District Choose Alvin Hellerstein wrote that the fee to Daniels “was a purely private merchandise.”
“Hush cash paid to an grownup movie star just isn’t associated to a president’s official acts,” Hellerstein wrote.
Trump’s legal professionals appealed Hellerstein’s resolution however later deserted the trouble.