Title: Trump Hush Money Trial
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this is CNN we are continuing to vol a new developments in the criminal hush money trial of former president Donald Trump. And right now, prosecutors and trump's defense attorneys are meeting with judge Juan merchan to work on jury instructions, which will set key guidelines with the juror as they deliberate a verdict. The defense rested its case earlier today after calling just to witnesses, neither were the former president and now closing arguments are scheduled to
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begin next Tuesday, we're joined by Michael Vanderveer's. He's a former attorney for the former press president who represented him during his second impeach trump impeachment trial Michael, it's great to have you here with us just first, you kind of your thoughts on how the former president likes to guide his attorneys, how involved he typically, we had that reporting from our colleague, Alayna treene talking about the former president's thoughts on castellows testimony. >> How involved is he liked to be he likes to be very
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involved. >> He keeps up to date not only on the news, but in constant contact with his lawyers. The last case that I tried for one of his companies, I talked to him every morning. I talked to him every night. We would talk a couple of times a day. He isn't a very, very intelligent guy. So he wants to know details. He wants to make his own arguments which you take with a grain of salt to a certain extent because it's,
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you know, it's tough being the defendant or the owner of a company that is a defendant. And you know, try to look at it abstractly rather than getting really personal about it, feeling emotions. I'll give anybody. Yeah, sure. >> And so he he he really wants to let you know what his arguments are. >> He really wants you to know what points he thinks is important and what's really interesting is this is back two or three years ago in a case that I did for him, he he wants
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you to know what he wants to nobody. He'll listen to you. He'll let you know what it's important to him and what's important to him is not just the legal case, but it's politics as well. And so it's really the first time I've had a client where they were equally concerned, if not more concerned with their political future. Rather than the underlying case itself. We've talked about that a lot in how he really is trying this in the
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court of opinion outside of the courtroom. >> But for him as the Republican will likely Republican nominee that he there's so much politically that's at stake what else is he going to do you're limited in the time now? >> Yeah, I can campaign you're limited in the things that you can say while you're not in the courtroom and so I think he's strategically taking the best that he can in a bad situation patient for him and
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with them, a lot of things that don't look good turn out okay? So I think he's probably hopeful that he wins this and just rides into the white house. >> They have five or six days before they're back in court and is it hard do you think it'll be hard for him tukey's he's maintained the gag order now since he's been told he could go to jail if you kept violating it you we've seen moments where he's gotten very frustrated at people as they, as they are testifying. >> Do you think he has that he
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can sustain that through the next several days? Yeah. I think he can sustain that through the next several days. What I don't understand is there's just this long delay. They should have closed today. They should have been doing jury instructions over this past weekend and they should deliberated Thursday and Friday. You probably would've had a verdict before the week is out. So I'm interested in the reasoning to delay the trial, but certainly it gives him time to slip up and I
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don't think he will, but, you know just that amount of time. I don't think it's going to be terribly good for the prosecution. Frankly, the delay because a lot of the prosecution's best case was in the beginning and you want that with a jury, you want the jury some, some people think that jury makes their mind up really quick. And so you want your best self forward, but now you've got these elongated cross-examinations. He got delays, she got the de off days
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off on Wednesday. Now you got the holiday weekend. And so all of that good stuff is now for weeks removed from their knowledge base. I know they're taking notes and whatnot, but, primacy and recency I think that it's probably better for the defense of the delay if at all, then for the prosecution.