Trump is trying to stop former White House staff from testifying in a hush-money trial

Trump and his lawyers are now trying to get the judge to block former White House aides from testifying against him in Manhattan.

Jose Pagliery of The Daily Beast was in the courtroom and posted:

I *think* the judge just said he’ll bring this up at trial.

The judge then says he will rule next week on Trump’s claim that “he believes his conduct was legal because Cohen negotiated the payments in question as an attorney.”

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— Jose Pagliery (@Jose_Pagliery) April 19, 2024

Executive Privilege, which it’s safe to assume Trump and his lawyers are going to do, doesn’t apply because it doesn’t cover criminal activity. As much as Trump tries to make this happen, Executive Privilege does not give presidents the right to commit crimes.

The second point made by Trump and his legal team seems equally ridiculous. A crime is not suddenly legal if a lawyer participates in its commission. Although the idea that Trump thought he could commit crimes as long as a lawyer was involved is a very Donald Trump way of thinking.

With every moment Trump spends in court, his attempts to evade justice seem more far-fetched and desperate. Trump’s defense in this case for years has been that he blames Michael Cohen, so it seems like this is the plan to avoid a conviction by blaming Cohen.

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