Trump May Use Melania As A Human Shield To Protect Himself From Indictments

In order to claim that Trump did not have the "intent" to commit a crime with the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels, his lawyers might end up using Melania Trump as a "human shield" to say that he was simply worried about how the news - which they still deny - would have impacted his wife and young son. This is a rather flimsy excuse, and it shows that the defense doesn't have a whole lot to work with, as Farron Cousins explains.

Don't forget to like, comment, and share! And subscribe to stay connected!

Connect with Farron on Twitter

*This transcript was auto-generated. Please excuse any typos.

As Donald Trump braces for possible indictments from the Manhattan District Attorney, his lawyer this week on TV kind of hinted at the legal tactic that Trump's team might be taking. The lawyer of course, is Joe Taina. He appeared on Good Morning America this week where he hinted at the fact that they might be trying to use Melania Trump as the human shield from the indictments. Here's what Taina said. It's not directly talking about the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. It's not directly related to the campaign. He made this with personal funds to prevent something coming out that was false, but embarrassing to himself, his family, his young son, and according to raw story that has legal experts believing Trump will use his wife and how she would've reacted as a human shield should he go to trial. So Taina tells us that, listen, yeah, you paid the money to Stormy Daniels, but that's because he didn't want to be embarrassed.

And of course he didn't want his poor wife to have to suffer that shame and embarrassment his young son, Baron, my God, think about what it would've done to the kids. So that's why he did it, you know, because Melan, he didn't want him to get mad. And God forbid you go home to that and you're like, oh, honey, I know you read the news today. That's a very weak argument, when you're having to use your wife as the human shield for indictments, um, you're already in a bad position, Donald. And here's why. Uh, let's start with TA's. Overall argument like this is money from his personal funds. Was it, was it because reports have suggested, and prosecutors have alleged that it was actually reimbursed through the Trump organization, through a shell company. And then of course, Alan Weisselberg, who Michael Cohen said he talked to, uh, told him how to set up the Shell company and then the Trump organization over-inflated, uh, what they call grossed out, uh, Michael Cohen's legal expenses to cover the cost of that.

So was it really from Donald Trump's personal account? Because all of the indicators suggest that it actually came from the Trump organization. So on its face, your argument before we even get to the Melania part, doesn't hold water based on available evidence. So I would say right off the bat, you're already screwed. Now, here's the thing. If Trump had not been running for president at the time and had not had to set up a shell company through Michael Cohen to then get reimbursed through the Trump organization, if Trump had just been a regular dude and he paid a woman out of his own pocket $130,000 to not say anything, that wouldn't be a crime. Like you could legally do that. There is nothing wrong with

It. It, you know, legally speaking, there's nothing wrong with it. But when you're running for president or any political office and you make a a, a payment like that, even if it's outta your own personal funds, it would still be considered an in-kind campaign contribution because you were worried about the damage it would do to your reputation. So you spent the money to make yourself look better, which is what a campaign is. It exceeded the legal limits. Boom, you're in trouble now. Then you run it through your company, falsified documents, which again is what prosecutors are alleging. You falsified documents, then you got even more problems. Now, the big problem, as I've said before, is that falsifying do, according to New York state law, and this is the dumbest thing I've ever heard, falsifying business documents just a misdemeanor. We're talking about one of the ci biggest cities on the planet where God knows how much business done across the world is, is completed in a day in New York City and the law is off.

You falsify your docket is a misdemeanor that is just flabbergasting. The only way it becomes a felony is if the falsification is done in furtherance of a second crime. Now, there's a possibility you could argue that the falsifying of documents was done as part of a, or in furtherance of a second crime. The second crime, of course, being concealing money so that it didn't appear like an illegal campaign contribution.