The unhinged outburst the Trump trial judge DIDN'T want you to see: Police were ... trends now

The stench of deceit hung in the air as I sat in the front row of a Manhattan courtroom.

Seated on the witness stand, no more than a few feet from me, I watched in disbelief as Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen told the jury one seeming lie after another.

When asked by prosecutors on Monday whether he would financially benefit if Trump were convicted, Cohen denied it.

That is demonstrably false.

Cohen is shopping around a reality TV show to capitalize on his newfound fame. He has admitted to making more than $3 million on anti-Trump books and podcasts and sells merchandise portraying the former president behind bars.

All of these enterprises would be undermined by a Trump acquittal.

Then there is Cohen's confession that he stole tens of thousands of dollars from the Trump Organizations by deceitfully overcharging for his services.

I wouldn't buy a used car from this man, let alone rely on his testimony to send a presidential candidate to prison.

Most significantly, I haven't heard any evidence that Trump committed a crime by falsely recording his legal expenses to hide a hush money payment to protect his 2016 presidential campaign.

The only testimony that even remotely speaks to that accusation is Cohen's claim that Trump approved an alleged payoff to Stormy Daniels during a 96 second phone call. 

But Trump's lawyer, Todd Blanche, got Cohen to admit that that phone conversation was, at least in part, about a prank caller who had been harassing Cohen.

'You had enough time in one minute and 36 seconds to update… about all the harassing phone calls and the update on Stormy Daniels?' Blanche asked.

'I believe that I also spoke to Mr. Trump and told him everything regarding Stormy Daniels was being worked on and it's going to be resolved,' Cohen answered.

'We are not asking for your belief,' Blanche replied. 'This jury doesn't want to hear what you think happened.'

Indeed, they don't.

They want to hear the truth.

Never in my 60 years of practicing law and teaching and writing about the U.S. legal system have I seen such a weak criminal fraud case.

Whether a jury of 12 New Yorkers will believe this fabulist and admitted thief is impossible to tell. But there is no doubt in my mind that the judge in this trial should not allow it to continue.

Instead, New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan should throw it out of court – and rule that Cohen's testimony is so

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