Porn stars, felons, and spin doctors: Who will jurors believe in Trump’s case?

Lanny Davis long ago established himself as the go-to operative in
Washington when you’re in the middle of a PR crisis. 

He was famously the public face defending Bill Clinton during the Monica
Lewinsky scandal in 1998. But today, 25 years later, he’s on the other
side of a presidential sex scandal representing Michael Cohen, Trump’s
longtime lawyer and self-described “fixer,” who went to jail for a
number of offenses, including his role in paying Stormy Daniels $130,000
in exchange for her not telling the media her account of an alleged
affair with Donald Trump. 

Cohen is now a central witness in the Manhattan DA’s case against Trump,
one that could send the former president to jail. It’s a case that has
died and been resurrected so many times that prosecutors have nicknamed
it the “zombie” case. And a major obstacle that prosecutors face is
whether or not jurors will believe that Cohen, who lied for Trump for
over a decade, is telling the truth. 

On this episode of Deep Dive, host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza
catches up with Davis at his office in Washington, D.C., to hear the
story of how the Trump “zombie” case came back from the dead and why he
insists jurors should believe his client.

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Lanny Davis is the lawyer and spokesperson for former Trump fixer
Michael Cohen.
Afra Abdullah is an associate producer for POLITICO audio.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer for POLITICO audio.

Lanny Davis long ago established himself as the go-to operative in Washington when you’re in the middle of a PR crisis. 

He was famously the public face defending Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998. But today, 25 years later, he’s on the other side of a presidential sex scandal representing Michael Cohen, Trump’s longtime lawyer and self-described “fixer,” who went to jail for a number of offenses, including his role in paying Stormy Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her not telling the media her account of an alleged affair with Donald Trump. 

Cohen is now a central witness in the Manhattan DA’s case against Trump, one that could send the former president to jail. It’s a case that has died and been resurrected so many times that prosecutors have nicknamed it the “zombie” case. And a major obstacle that prosecutors face is whether or not jurors will believe that Cohen, who lied for Trump for over a decade, is telling the truth. 

On this episode of Deep Dive, host and Playbook co-author Ryan Lizza catches up with Davis at his office in Washington, D.C., to hear the story of how the Trump “zombie” case came back from the dead and why he insists jurors should believe his client.

Ryan Lizza is a Playbook co-author for POLITICO.
Lanny Davis is the lawyer and spokesperson for former Trump fixer Michael Cohen.
Afra Abdullah is an associate producer for POLITICO audio.
Kara Tabor is a producer for POLITICO audio.
Alex Keeney is a senior producer for POLITICO audio.
Jenny Ament is the executive producer for POLITICO audio.