'Overplayed its hand': Legal expert Glenn Kirschner spotlights weakness in Donald Trump's hush money trial defense

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Former prosecutor Glenn Kirschner joined MSNBC host Jen Psaki to discuss his opinion piece on the hush money trial of former President Donald Trump on Monday, May 27 episode of 'Inside with Jen Psaki.'

Psaki pointed out that Trump's defense strategy revolved around his ex-attorney Michael Cohen's credibility which Kirschner had previously argued was improved by the fact that he admitted to his lies and stealing from his then-boss Trump.

Glenn Kirschner expresses his confidence in the jury

"I agree that they (Thrump's attorneys) will hammer on Michael Cohen, but the good news is that the jurors don't check their common sense at the courtroom door. They bring it into the jury box, they bring it into the deliberation room," Kirschner told Psaki on Monday.

"They are going to view the evidence through their common sense lenses, and I think one thing that will likely resonate with them is the question, 'Who has benefitted from this crime?'" he continued.

"Certainly not Michael Cohen, he wasn't running for Office, he didn't get elected President of the United States. In fact, it sounds like he had to sneak around and hide from his own wife the fact that he was opening a home equity line of credit to make this corrupt hust money payment ... to try to help Donald Trump win elected office. That is the kind of common sense argument that will resonate with the jury," he insisted.

Glenn Kirschner dismisses Michael Cohen's phone call date mix-up

Regarding the prosecutor's star witness allegedly confusing the date of the supposed phone call between him and Trump regarding the hush money payment, Kirschner remarked that, as a prosecutor, he would have questioned jurors about their ability to recall the precise date and time of a phone call made over eight years ago.

"You may remember the substance of a consequential call but you don't remember the date and the time," he said.

"And more importantly, as much of a cheapskate as Donald Trump is, do you really think that he would have started writing $35,000 reimbursement checks if Michael Cohen hadn't told him, 'Hey, boss, I made the payment. I want my money.'"

"These are common sense arguments that would resonate with the jury. I think the defense overplayed its hand in a number of ways, including ... insisting that Donald Trump had no sexual encounters with Stormy Daniels. Boy is that going to come back to bite them," he added.