‘It Was a Blow on the Chin’: Eisen on Blanche’s Cross-Examination of Cohen in Trump’s N.Y. Trial

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:
BLITZER: “Norm, you were in the courtroom yesterday for the dramatic moment when Todd Blanche pressed Cohen on whether the phone call allegedly linking Trump to the hush money scheme was actually about a 14-year-old prank caller. What was your takeaway from that? And how will prosecutors try to clean it up on redirect?”
EISEN: “Wolf, it was the single best moment of Todd Blanche‘s cross-examination which otherwise meandered and left a lot out of loose ends and it was a powerful, there‘s no doubt about it. It was a blow on the chin, on the other hand, there‘s a tremendous amount of corroborating and supporting evidence. And it takes more than one punch to devastate the very strong proof, which I believe the district attorney has adduced here. It didn‘t night knock Michael Cohen out either. He didn‘t recant his testimony. He was clearly shaken, but he stood by what he had said. So I thought it was an important moment, but not dispositive in the case, they will redirect by making clear that in context that this call was a brief one, that there was ample time for multiple subjects. You can get a lot into 96 seconds. We do that all the time. And finally that there are other direct calls with Trump, including two on the morning of October 26, clearly placed by Cohen directly to Trump that also substantiate Trump‘s involvement with a great deal of other evidence.”