Former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz suggested Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg could be putting himself in "harm's way" by pursuing an indictment against former President Donald Trump for a payoff to quiet an alleged affair, saying it's unethical to use a witness he believes is lying.
Speaking on Newsmax's "Rob Schmitt Tonight" on Thursday, Dershowitz referred to testimony by former Trump attorney Michael Cohen before a grand jury regarding $130,000 paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford.
Cohen pleaded guilty to federal charges in a case in which prosecutors said he was directed by Trump to make the payments and then was reimbursed by the former president, and then falsified his business records. Trump has denied there was an affair with Clifford.
The case Bragg is pursuing reportedly hinges on the payments being a violation of federal election law and falsification of business records.
But attorney Robert Costello also has testified to the grand jury, saying he told the grand jury of meetings with Cohen in 2018, when he said Cohen told him it was his idea to make the payments, not Trump's, and that Cohen took out a loan to make the payments.
"It really puts Bragg in harm's way," Dershowitz said. "It's unethical and subject to discipline if a prosecutor calls a witness to the witness stand who he does not believe is telling the truth.
"And there's no intelligent person who could now believe after the statements by Bob Costello and the letter to the election agency that [Cohen is] telling the truth, and you just can't do that as a prosecutor."
The state grand jury looking into the matter has been told it will not hear any new testimony until at least next week. Dershowitz doesn't think that's a coincidence.
"He has really three options to make the case around Cohen without using Cohen," Dershowitz said. "That may be why they're delaying it and calling more witnesses, or using Cohen and subjecting yourself to possible bar discipline or dropping the case, which would be the smart thing to do.
"I don't think there will ever be an announcement that the case is dropped, but it is certainly possible that it will wither away now."
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