A pair of students in New York City took it upon themselves to attend the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president on Tuesday, with one telling MSNBC afterwards that it was especially “funny” to see Donald Trump’s lawyer, Todd Blanche, get “annihilated” by Judge Juan Merchan.
On Chris Jansing Reports, Hope Harrington and Owen Berenbom shared their experience in the courtroom. In addition to continued testimony from former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker, Tuesday’s proceedings saw Merchan grill Blanche, who struggled to defend what prosecutors say were Trump’s repeated and willful violations of the gag order in the case. Merchan has not yet ruled on a potential punishment for Trump.
Harrington in particular recalled the moment Merchan told Blanche that his discursive responses to his questions meant that he was losing all credibility” with the court.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I thought it was really funny when the defense attorney was basically annihilated by the judge in opening ceremonies,” recalled Harrington, who said she wants to become a lawyer. “It really made my day. It was really funny. [Blanche] had no evidence whatsoever.”
Jansing followed up: “Is that what your takeaway was, as a fledgling lawyer—that you don’t go back into court without evidence?”
“Yeah, basically!” Harrington replied. “That was a big part of it.”
Berenbom said he took an interest in Pecker’s testimony, which touched on how he agreed to pay $30,000 for—and then did not publish—a story about Trump allegedly fathering a child out of wedlock with a maid from his Trump Tower penthouse. Prosecutors also questioned Pecker about Karen McDougal, a former Playboy model who allegedly received a hush-money payment to keep quiet about another year-long relationship she had with Trump.
Harrington and Berenbom were then asked their impression of Trump, who has appeared to fall asleep at times and has seemed anxious at other points since the trial began last Monday.
“He seemed much more contained than he normally is,” Berenbom said.
The trial resumes on Thursday.
