'You Just Described The Crime': Jesse Watters' Trump Defense Doesn't Go So Well
Jesse Watters seems to have accidentally told viewers what Donald Trump allegedly did wrong in the hush money case.
“His lawyer paid Stormy and, after the campaign was over, the money was reimbursed and booked as a legal expense,” the Fox News host said Monday, hours after opening statements were delivered at the former president’s historic trial.
That’s pretty much what prosecutors say happened — and not what Trump’s legal team says happened.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. According to prosecutors, just before the 2016 election, Trump’s then-attorney, Michael Cohen, paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in exchange for her silence on her claim she had an affair with Trump a decade earlier.
Trump then reimbursed Cohen in a series of payments from the Trump Organization described falsely as retainer fees, obscuring expenditures that hid damaging information from the public before the election, prosecutors allege.
Watters: His lawyer paid Stormy and after the campaign was over, the money was reimbursed and booked as a legal expense. pic.twitter.com/vbE576ogCd
— Acyn (@Acyn) April 23, 2024
During his opening statement, Todd Blanche, Trump’s lead attorney, acknowledged that Daniels signed a nondisclosure agreement in October 2016 in exchange for $130,000, arguing that it was “perfectly legal” to do so.
However, he claimed payments from Trump’s company to Cohen were not reimbursements for the hush money, but legitimate legal services.
Watters made the apparent slip while arguing that “this wasn’t campaign business, this was personal,” when Trump sought to suppress Daniels’ story before the election.
“You can’t use campaign funds for personal matters, and now you can’t use personal funds for personal matters during a campaign? So, I guess the real crime is that Trump ran for president and beat Hillary” Clinton, Watters said.
Critics were quick to pounce.
“Umm...well...hmm...you know you just described the crime. I don’t understand what you don’t understand about what you just said,” former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele wrote, sharing a clip of the moment on X.
Ron Filipkowski, editor-in-chief of the anti-Trump MeidasTouch network, wrote, “I guess the main problem with this is it’s the exact opposite of what Trump’s lawyer said in his opening statement.”
See some more reactions below.
Booked as a legal expense for the Trump Organization. And, uh, no. https://t.co/CD10rxWoM9
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) April 23, 2024
Jesse Explains Crime https://t.co/fivoxHT9u0
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) April 23, 2024
This is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what Trump's lawyer said in the opening statement. https://t.co/yyuqHjPE2A
— Roshan Rinaldi (@Roshan_Rinaldi) April 23, 2024
"He walked into the bank, pulled out a gun, and demanded all the money. Where's the crime??"
— ProLib 🇺🇦 (@prolibshow) April 23, 2024
What he’s saying makes complete sense, once you reach the opposite conclusion.
— Paul Biedermann (@PaulBiedermann) April 23, 2024
Jesse Explains Crime https://t.co/fivoxHT9u0
— Bad Fox Graphics (@BadFoxGraphics) April 23, 2024
Correct. That's the illegal part, Jesse
— Blue Georgia (@BlueATLGeorgia) April 23, 2024
Whatever you do, don’t get your legal advice from Jesse Watters
— Jake Cobb (@realjakecobb) April 23, 2024