Legal analysts and media pundits have dished out some strong criticism of Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's case against Donald Trump, as the jury deliberates the former president's fate.
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Many pointed to the prosecution's key witnesses, adult film star Stormy Daniels and former Trump fixer Michael Cohen, suggesting they both had credibility issues, and some argued that the prosecution did not meet the reasonable doubt standard.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Defense attorney Randy Zelin said Tuesday during an appearance on CNN that the prosecution fell "way short" in proving the case beyond reasonable doubt.
"Let's start with reasonable doubt. What is reasonable doubt? And it's not simply a doubt based upon reason. Any time a human being needs to make an important decision in life, if you have enough information, for example, doctor says you need to open -heart surgery, 'Doc, go ahead and schedule. I don't have a reasonable doubt,'" Zelin added.
"Conversely, if I say, 'I appreciate it, but I need a second opinion, I need more information,' that is having a reasonable doubt. There is reasonable doubt all over this case," he said.
Zelin also pointed out to Cohen's credibility issues.
"He's a fixer. If the plumber comes to my house to fix my leak, I could be home -- that doesn't mean I know how he's doing it and what it's taking to be fixed," Zelin said.
CNN's Elie Honig, a senior legal analyst at the network, was stunned by Cohen admitting to stealing $60,000 from the Trump Organization during cross-examination.
He said that it was a more serious crime than what Trump is on trial for in Manhattan.
"The fact that he was never charged with larceny is important because stealing $60,000 through fraud, which would be larceny in New York State, is more serious of a crime than falsifying business records," he said.
Both Honig and CNN political commentator Tim Parlatore suggested the admission was glazed over during the prosecution's initial questioning of Cohen.
"The fact that it was minimized in that way by the prosecution, I think it presents a very good opportunity and closing for — they knew about this. They minimized it, the prosecutor misled this jury," Parlatore said. Cohen came under fire for speaking out against the hush money case on TikTok, prior to taking the stand as a witness.
"His lack of impulse control in all of this is remarkable," New York Times reporter Susanne Craig told MSNBC. "He went out on Twitter and said I'm not going to say anything else… then he was out on a TikTok live video with a shirt of Donald Trump behind bars."